Adequate reentry support is not only critical to men and women released from prison but also to their families and communities. Evaluating the quality of reentry facilities is the goal of former prisoner Brian Ferguson.
“People are self-motivated to find the things that are going to help them out and the things that are going to get them back on their feet,” Ferguson told reporter Christopher Moraff, for the website Next City on Jan 20. “People come home and they really want to change and want to make a life for themselves but the situation is such that they often have a difficult time finding the resources they need to do it.”
Ferguson’s solution is to create a web-based clearinghouse of reentry resources, called Angel’s List, which he says has the potential to “completely revolutionize the service referral industry” for returning citizens.
The concept behind Angel’s List is to have user reviews of the reentry facilities, similar to Yelp or to Angie’s List, a guide for home repair services.
Ferguson can draw from several existing lists of reentry resources: one in Philadelphia, two in California, and one in Texas, Next City reports. Unlike Ferguson’s Angel’s List, these resource lists are not rated for quality or usefulness.
Ferguson’s idea caught the attention of Halcyon Incubator, a Washington, D.C., incubator program for social entrepreneurs that chose Ferguson as one of 10 fellows in October. Since then, he has received professional, technical support and access to potential investors, according to Next City.
Before going national, Angel’s List is scheduled to launch in the D.C. area and New York City in 2016.
“Hopefully this will create a new competitive space for these organizations,” Ferguson said to Next City. “It’s a win-win because it allows people to have an input into their own success but it also facilitates the whole industry getting better.”
–By Juan Haines