Can Employment Programs Help Ex-Prisoners Successfully Reenter Society?

July 2007:

Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from prison and seek to rejoin their communities. The obstacles to successful reentry are daunting, starting with the challenge of finding stable work. Indeed, two-thirds of released prisoners are rearrested, and half are reincarcerated within three years. In recognition of the enormous human and financial toll of recidivism, there is new interest among researchers, community advocates, and public officials in prisoner reentry initiatives, particularly those focused on employment.

What’s the Relationship Between Crime and Employment?

Although the relationship between crime and employment is complex, most experts seem to agree on a few things. First, a large proportion of former prisoners have low levels of education and work experience, health problems, and other personal characteristics that make them hard to employ, particularly in a labor market that offers fewer and fewer well-paying opportunities for individuals who lack postsecondary education. For example, 40 percent of inmates in state and federal prisons have neither a high school diploma nor a GED, 31 percent of state inmates have a “physical impairment or mental condition,” and 57 percent report that they used drugs in the month before their arrest.[1] ..more..

The above paper summarizes this July 2006 report: Employment-Focused Programs for Ex-Prisoners by Dan Bloom