Panel:
Evidence-Based Approaches to Reentry: Employment and Training Programs for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
(Employment and Training Programs)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
This panel will discuss the design of reentry programs that effectively support the employment and reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into society. Nearly ten million people are released from U.S. prisons and jails every year, and at least half are rearrested within three years. The rising number of individuals exiting incarceration facilities and their persistently high rates of recidivism have prompted increased attention to reentry as a policy issue with profound reach and impact, not only for individual and family well-being, but also for communities and public safety. Many individuals enter the correctional system with low rates of educational attainment; limited work experience; and a high rate of health-related issues, such as substance abuse, mental-health issues, and physical problems. As a result, state and local workforce systems struggle to identify the strategies that are effective at helping former inmates address these barriers, find and maintain stable employment upon release, and avoid returning to prison or jail.
The three papers discussed in this panel look at reentry-focused employment programs from multiple perspectives, providing policymakers and program operators with research findings on ways to increase the efficacy and efficiency of employment-focused reentry programs.
The first paper examines the effects of specific types and sequencing of pre-release services on recidivism outcomes using long-term data from the Multi-site Evaluation of the Serious and Violent Offenders Initiative (SVORI). Several hypotheses are offered for the varied impacts of different services, including the quality of implementation, availability of follow-up, participant readiness for change, and expectations for ease of post-release reintegration.
The second paper presents findings from the Evaluation of the Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) initiative, which was designed to strengthen urban communities challenged by high numbers of individuals returning from incarceration. The paper looks at effects on recidivism as well as long-term labor market outcomes. The lack of significant impacts at three years after program participation points to the importance of program length, follow-up, and availability of jobs in the neighborhoods to which high numbers of inmates return.
The third paper provides an in-depth examination of the planning and start-up period for the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-release (LEAP) program, which is a new initiative funded by DOL to bridge the gap between pre- and post-release services by establishing American Job Centers (AJCs) in local jails. This formative study aims to provide rapid and practical feedback to policy makers and practitioners based on the lessons learned by the 20 LEAP grantees and their partner jails about how to design and implement AJCs within a jail setting and establish a continuation of services upon release with community AJCs.
