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Signature SystemASCEND
ASCEND helps adults understand what shaped their behavior, practice healthier responses, and strengthen the skills needed at home, at work, and in the community.
Learn moreTransforming lives since 2019Partner with SCRIP
Hartford, Connecticut · Since 2019
Your past is part of your story. It does not have to decide your future.
SCRIP meets people where they are. We help returning citizens, adults, and young people address what is holding them back and take practical steps toward stability, employment, healthier relationships, and a stronger future.
84%of participants
remain home
remain home
64%secure
employment
employment
Since 2019serving
our community
our community
“We believe in transformation,
not just transition.”
Our mission
SCRIP empowers justice-involved individuals to rediscover who they are through behavioral development, clinical collaboration, employment support, housing connections, education, and expert mentoring.
Why SCRIP
Coming home is only the beginning.
A person may need a job, but also be carrying trauma, family strain, unstable housing, or the belief that the past will always follow them. Those challenges do not disappear at the prison gate or after someone receives a certificate.
That is why SCRIP does more than offer a class. We help each person identify what they need next—whether that is employment, counseling, mentoring, housing connections, stronger communication skills, or a consistent community of support.
See how our model works
In a graduate’s own words
“SCRIP has been a safe place for me to start healing and grow.”
“SCRIP helped me attain employment and gave me the opportunity to show my worth as an employee—knowing I was receiving a second chance to prove to myself that I can do this.”
Tracy Shumaker2023 SCRIP alumna · Women’s ASCEND cohortSee more graduate storiesWhat we do
Different people need different starting points.
Some people are ready to work. Others need time to address trauma, rebuild confidence, strengthen relationships, or get connected to housing and counseling. SCRIP offers several ways to begin.
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Youth DevelopmentYouth RISE
Young people build confidence, communication, accountability, and leadership while learning how to tell their own stories.
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Direct Employment PathwayCOPE
COPE helps work-ready adults—including people referred by partner organizations—prepare for employment, connect with employers, and receive support after they are hired.
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Reentry & Community SupportStick to the SCRIP
A weekly place for guidance, referrals, mentorship, honest conversation, and continued support from people who understand the reentry journey.
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Mentorship & LeadershipUrban Male Initiative
Men and boys gather with trusted mentors and community voices to talk honestly about responsibility, leadership, purpose, and the choices ahead.
Learn moreAlso serving our community through
T.R.U.E.Community Engagement
Our approach
From healing to home
SCRIP’s five-key framework addresses the conditions that make successful reentry possible: health and mental health, housing, employment, skill development, and mentorship and social networks.
Partner with usHeal
Address the experiences beneath behavior through trauma-informed education and clinical support.
Build
Develop emotional regulation, accountability, life skills, professional readiness, and healthy relationships.
Belong
Connect participants to employment, housing, mentorship, and a community committed to second chances.
Founder & Executive DirectorEdward L. Andrews
Leadership shaped by lived experience
“I created SCRIP so people would have more than a way home. They would have a way forward.”
Edward L. Andrews is a sociologist, author, lecturer, urban trauma specialist, and the founder of SCRIP. His leadership brings together lived experience, disciplined program design, and a conviction that people deserve the opportunity to rediscover who they are.
Rediscover Who You Are!SCRIP’s enduring promise
Correctional agencies
Community organizations
Behavioral health providers
Employers & funders
Community voices
Public voices standing beside second chances.
Meet the artists, advocates, journalists, athletes, and civic leaders whose specific connections help SCRIP carry the mission into wider rooms.
Take the next step