Beyond Reentry: How Washington’s PROWD Program Makes a Difference
Beyond the Resume: How Washington’s PROWD Program and Peer Mentorship Turn Reentry Anxiety into Restoration
Inside a classroom at WorkSource Pierce in Tacoma, Jeral Johns sat quietly at a table reflecting on the grueling journey that brought him back to his feet. Just down the hallway, sitting in the lobby, was his two-year-old son. Today was the boy’s second birthday—a milestone celebrated not in a visitation room, but in the waiting area of a state workforce center while his father shared a story of personal transformation.
For Jeral, that hallway represented the divide between a past dictated by mistake and a future built on stability. After serving time in prison on drug manufacturing charges following a difficult divorce, Jeral entered the Tacoma Reentry Center facing a wall of uncertainty.
“The anxiety is through the roof,” Jeral recalled of his initial release. “Everything is uncertain. You have to restart your whole life.”
Like many returning citizens, Jeral was caught in a maze of systemic barriers. Beyond the stigma of a felony record, the administrative hurdles of reentry can stall progress before it even begins. A key bottleneck involves state identification: job seekers in federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody are often stuck in an administrative catch-22, ineligible for state homelessness ID vouchers yet lacking the primary documents required to secure a standard driver’s license. Without an ID, securing housing, opening a bank account, or landing a job is virtually impossible.
A Bridge Built on Federal-State Partnership
That systemic gap is precisely what the Washington Employment Security Department’s (ESD) PROWD program—Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development—was designed to eliminate. Funded through First Step Act grants administered in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor and Department of Justice, PROWD delivers a three-stage support system that accompanies participants from federal prison to halfway houses, and ultimately into community workforce centers.
Through PROWD, participants at WorkSource centers receive tailored wraparound assistance. This includes direct funding for high-demand vocational credentials—such as CDL commercial driving licenses, forklift certifications, and college coursework—as well as tangible necessities like work boots, professional attire, and hygiene supplies. Specialized classes like Navigating Barriers teach clients how to candidly address criminal record disclosures during job interviews without letting past convictions define their future value.
Yet, as essential as financial grants and resume workshops are, ESD recognized that institutional resources alone cannot heal the psychological toll of incarceration. Real transformation requires trust.
The Power of Lived Experience
Enter Thomera Revais, an ESD Peer Navigator stationed at WorkSource Pierce. Sitting in her cubicle surrounded by vibrant drawings made by her daughters, Thomera brings a rare authority to her role: she has walked the exact path her clients are currently navigating.
Having survived domestic abuse, addiction, and a prison sentence for residential burglary, Thomera spent years rebuilding her own life. She found healing through transitional housing at Kate’s House Foundation, creative expression through painting, and a deep reconnection to her Native American heritage through traditional medicine and beading. Celebrating her one-year anniversary as a PROWD Peer Navigator, Thomera uses her past trauma as a bridge to reach people whom traditional systems often fail.
“I help people rebuild their lives,” Thomera explained. “I feel like I’m good at my job because of the experiences I’ve gone through—DV relationships, addiction, prison myself.”
When Jeral walked into her office at the reentry center, he was facing an agonizing bureaucratic threat: probation transfer rules threatened to send him back to Oregon where his charges originated—a move that would have separated him from his two sons residing in Washington.
Thomera stepped in immediately. She helped Jeral navigate state ID logistics, advocated for his WA residency ties, built a resume highlighting his transferable skills, and provided the steady reassurance he needed to apply for jobs.
“It was a load off my mind to sit across from somebody that’s been where you’ve been,” Jeral said. “I didn’t feel like I was talking to an official behind a desk… She helped kind of sort them all out so they’re chewable. It’s not such a huge burden at one time.”
Thomera saw Jeral’s potential immediately. “He was confident and knew where he wanted to go,” she noted. “He had a plan, and he had a prize at the end of the tunnel: his children.”
A Home, A Job, and A Second Birthday
Driven by the need to provide for his sons, Jeral applied to dozens of positions, putting into practice the disclosure techniques he learned through PROWD. His determination paid off when he secured employment at Jiffy Lube. That job provided the stable income necessary to transition out of the reentry center, secure his own apartment in Tacoma, and regain custody of his youngest son.
Today, Jeral’s life looks radically different than it did a year ago.
“I get up at 5:30 in the morning and sit out on a picnic table and pray… and to go into my home and that’s my son and here’s his toys—this is our family, this is our home—I am filled with joy in every moment of every day,” Jeral shared.
When asked what message he would pass to the version of himself sitting in a jail cell years ago, Jeral reflected quietly: “Surrender. Surrender to life, to God… stay vigilant, keep your eyes on the right things.”
Investing in Whole-Person Restoration
Jeral’s journey highlights why Washington State’s investment in peer-led reentry initiatives is setting a benchmark for workforce development. By funding programs that address both practical job training and deep emotional restoration, ESD and its partners are doing more than helping businesses fill labor shortages—they are breaking intergenerational cycles of trauma, lowering recidivism rates, and repairing families.
“Getting that second chance is important,” Thomera reflected as the interview concluded. “It allows that hope, and gives you a sense of belief in yourself that you can do it when other people help believe in you.”
That belief was on full display in the WorkSource lobby. As Jeral stepped out of the classroom to join his son, they walked out together—not toward a halfway house or a court hearing, but home to celebrate two years of life, built on the foundation of a second chance.