Proud to share from the STRONG Accountable Care Community Symposium 2025!

Beyond the Background Check: Empowering Reentry and Recovery Through Fair-Chance Employer Access and Peer Support

On September 10–11, 2025, community leaders, advocates, and changemakers from across Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee gathered at the Delta Hotel Bristol for the STRONG Accountable Care Community’s 2025 Regional Symposium. This year’s theme, “One Region: Uniting in Action,” celebrates the extraordinary power of collaboration across sectors and the state line to build a more resilient, equitable, and thriving Appalachia. With powerful storytelling, 16 breakout sessions, insights from state policymakers, hands-on solutions, and plenty of networking, the Symposium will energize and connect those working to address our region’s most pressing challenges.

Kristina Peters

Caring Workplaces Employer Manager 

First Tennessee Development District

Jennifer Jones

Recovery Program Manager, PEERhelp

Ballad Health 

Caring Workplaces and Ballad Health’s PEERhelp program, were able to present a session focusing on holistic and person-centered approach to reentry and recovery at the symposium.

Caring Workplaces, an initiative led by the First Tennessee Development District and supported by a Department of Labor grant, is dedicated to fostering safe, supportive, and recovery-friendly environments where employers, employees, and communities can work together to reduce stigma and remove barriers for individuals affected by substance use disorders and incarceration.

PEERhelp, a program of Ballad Health, enhances the quality of life for individuals with lived experience of judicial involvement and/or substance use disorder by addressing health-related social needs through personalized peer support, resource navigation, and advocacy.

Together, these programs provide a comprehensive framework for supporting individuals during recovery and or reentry by leveraging the expertise of Certified Peer Recovery Specialists and a network of fair chance Caring Workplaces employers.