New Chances, New Progress

Adult/End-Dependence Kansas Success Story

Workforce Challenge –

Nathan was a WIOA Adult and End Dependence Kansas referral from Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility and has a documented disability of substance abuse. He was very well known in his hometown where he used and sold illegal substances. He’d been employed in some jobs in the community but couldn’t make any of them stick as his legal issues or drug usage would always impede with his success. Nathan had been in and out of correctional facilities over his lifetime due to his criminal issues. When EDK staff met him at the correctional facility he was looking for a change in his life and he knew that he could not go back to his hometown as his name was negative in the area and needed a change in venue so that he could start over.

Workforce Solution

We assisted Nathan with getting enrolled into the EDK program that is directly connected to Vocational Rehabilitation so that we could assist him with dealing with his substance abuse issues and how they relate to his success outside of the correctional facility. We were able help navigate treatment plans upon release from LCMHF and he was accepted into the New Chance program in Dodge City. Once he completed the inpatient treatment, we assisted him with getting an informational interview at National Beef in Dodge City. After he was hired, we also assisted him with getting work boots that he needed in order to be within compliance with National Beef’s safety standards.

Outcomes & Benefits

He has been a model employee to the point that a supervisor from a different department noticed his work ethic and quality of work and they have offered him a promotion that would increase his pay by $1 – $2 per hour. With everything that Nathan has going good for him at work he has just as much going well for him outside of work. He has begun to reconnect with his 10-year-old son and is now living at the Oxford House in Dodge City as he knows that his sobriety is paramount to his success. He has asked that we continue to contact each other after the case is closed as he is grateful that someone is vested in his life and his progress.