Jobs and Hope West Virginia began in 2019 and is a statewide collaboration of agencies that provides West Virginians in recovery the opportunity to obtain career training and to ultimately secure meaningful employment. The program provides a comprehensive response in a rural state that has been hit hardest by the opioid crisis, with services far beyond linkage to treatment for opioid use disorder. It addresses barriers and facilitators to sustaining recovery, such as a criminal record, transportation, education and vocational training, and gainful employment, also termed 'social determinants of health'. 

There are several steps through the Jobs and Hope process:

• Each individual will receive a level of treatment that may include a variety of outpatient and residential services, leading to stabilization and recovery (if needed)
• After participants are determined to be clinically stable, they will be assigned a Transition Agent
• The Safety Treatment Program allows participants who successfully complete the program to be eligible to have their driver’s licenses reissued
• If applicable, participants will complete a 30-day job readiness and basic life skills training resulting in basic certifications and high school diploma equivalency 
• Transition Agent facilitates future career opportunities and ongoing support, which may include short- and long-term vocational training
• After appropriate educational and training opportunities and the Transition Agent determines that the participant is job-ready, the program facilitates gainful employment
• If applicable, participants convicted of certain non-violent criminal offenses and certain non-violent felonies will be eligible to have their offenses expunged after completing the relevant steps of the Jobs and Hope program

More detailed information on the program and contact information can be found in this report and in this press release.