At Formerly Inc., we do not study the criminal justice system from a distance — we have lived it, worked in it, challenged it, and helped people survive it. Our team understands the system from the inside out because many of us have personally experienced incarceration, addiction, recovery, reentry, supervision, and the barriers that continue long after a sentence ends.
That lived experience, combined with professional expertise, is what makes our work different.
We are consultants, strategists, facilitators, and community leaders who understand both the human side of justice involvement and the systemic failures that continue to drive recidivism across this country. We know the policies. We know the institutions. But more importantly, we know the people behind the statistics.
Every month, approximately 2,000 individuals return to communities across Connecticut from jails and prisons. Many come home carrying the same burdens they had before incarceration — poverty, unemployment, trauma, unstable housing, untreated mental health challenges, addiction, fractured family relationships, and hopelessness. Without meaningful intervention, those challenges often become the pathway back into the system.
Formerly Inc. exists to interrupt that cycle.
We believe reentry is not simply about release — it is about restoration. It is about preparing individuals to return home with purpose, confidence, support, and opportunity. It is about helping systems move beyond punishment and toward prevention, healing, accountability, and long-term public safety.
Our approach combines evidence-based practices, lived experience mentorship, workforce development, emotional intelligence, recovery support, leadership development, and practical life skills training designed to create lasting behavioral change. We work directly with justice-impacted individuals while also training correctional staff, probation and parole officers, judicial stakeholders, treatment providers, and community organizations to better understand the realities of incarceration, trauma, addiction, and successful reintegration.
We are trusted because our work is authentic. We speak the language of the community and the language of the system. We know how to bridge the gap between both worlds because we have walked in both.
At Formerly Inc., we are not interested in temporary solutions or performative conversations. We are focused on building safer communities by helping people rebuild themselves from the inside out.
Because when people are given tools instead of labels, support instead of isolation, and opportunity instead of barriers, transformation becomes possible.