THE OPPORTUNITY
In the summer of 2025, the PA Prison Society began offering our Building Connection reentry workshop at Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), SCI Fayette, and SCI Greene. The goal of the Building Connection workshop is to assist individuals with the relational, social and emotional challenges of returning home from prison while strengthening their network of support and access to material reentry resources.
On any given day, 62,000 Pennsylvanians are incarcerated in state and county prisons. Incarceration in Pennsylvania increased 300 percent since 1980 while the crime rate has gone down. Lack of access to health care, degradation, and isolation are some of the issues people in prison face. For 240 years, the Pennsylvania Prison Society has led the nation in calling for a more just and humane criminal justice system.
Every month, more than 500 incarcerated people and their families ask the Prison Society for help with issues they face inside prison. Written into Pennsylvania law, Prison Society staff and volunteers respond to these complaints by going into correctional facilities, meeting with incarcerated people, assisting with the issues they are facing, and providing real-time information on prison conditions.
We are searching for group facilitators to play an essential role in creating a space where individuals can engage fully with the workshop material and work towards a successful return to their families and communities.
YOUR CORE COMPETENCIES
You understand the core principles of effective facilitation. You bring experience working with groups and are open to feedback and additional training to enhance your skills as a compassionate and pragmatic facilitator.
You love connecting and inspiring people. You are welcoming, empathetic and encouraging in your ability to listen and empathize with various personalities.
You understand working through a trauma-informed lens. You bring experience with working with individuals and groups who are marginalized and are open to additional training in best-practices in trauma-informed, group facilitation.
You are reliable and organized. You understand that consistency of schedule is paramount and that record-keeping and reporting requirements are a necessary function of the facilitator role.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Location -This position requires in-person facilitation at ACJ and/or SCI Fayette and SCI Greene
- Hours - Position(s) may cover any or all (depending on facilitator availability) of the below facility schedules:
- ACJ men’s cohorts: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-2:30pm
- ACJ women’s cohorts: Fridays, 8:30am-10:00am and 1:00pm-2:30pm
- SCI Fayette and Greene: Wednesdays, 9:00am-10:30am (Fayette) and 1:00pm-2:30pm (Greene)
- Start date - As soon as possible
- Compensation - This is a contracted position and compensation will be $35/hour. Compensation for travel and/or time between sessions to be negotiated.
At the Prison Society, we don’t just accept difference—we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our staff, our mission, and our community. The Society is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Individuals directly impacted by the criminal justice system are encouraged to apply.