Study Details | Pathways to Work

8964-Study of EMPLOY

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a quasi-experimental design that does not adjust estimated impacts for potentially important differences between the intervention and comparison groups.

Intervention: EMPLOY

Population and employment barriers:

Educational attainment (At least a high school diploma or equivalent), Specific employment barriers (Justice involvement)

Services provided:

Job development, Job placement, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Post-employment participant follow-up, Transportation assistance, Work supports

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Study design

Design:

Quasi-experimental design

Study group formation:

People who were incarcerated, were within five years of the end of their sentence, and had at least six months of work experience through the state's prison industry program (Minnesota Correctional Industries) were eligible to participate in EMPLOY. Participation in EMPLOY was voluntary and required submitting an application. The study authors used propensity score matching to match 232 EMPLOY participants in the intervention group to 232 nonparticipants in the comparison group (out of 3,959 individuals who did not participate). All study participants were released from Minnesota prisons between 2006 and 2008.

Time period of study:

Individuals included in the study were released from prison between July 2006 and December 2008, and follow-up data were collected until the end of June 2010. Individuals received services for 12 months after release.

Pathways only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

All study participants were released from a Minnesota prison after June 2006 but before January 2009. In the intervention group, most participants were male (78 percent), and the average age at release was 37. About half of intervention group participants were not White (46 percent). In the comparison group, most participants were male (81 percent), and the average age was about 35. About half of intervention group participants were not White (43 percent).

Age

Mean age

36 years

Sex

Female	20%
Male	80%

Participant race and ethnicity

White	56%
Another race	44%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were long-term cash assistance recipients	100%
Had low incomes	100%

Participant education

Had a high school diploma or GED	97%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	3%

Specific employment barriers

Had a substance abuse disorder	24%
Were involved with the justice system	100%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Minnesota Correctional Industries

Intervention services:

The EMPLOY program aimed to help people incarcerated in Minnesota prisons obtain and retain employment. People in the intervention group received EMPLOY services during the last 60 to 90 days of their prison sentence and for a year after their release. After being accepted into EMPLOY, participants met with a job training specialist for two eight-hour sessions to go over job search preparation and techniques and interviewing skills. During the last week before participants' release, a job development specialist searched for job leads, located open positions, and communicated with potential employers. After participants were released from prison, they had an appointment with a retention specialist in their community to receive a portfolio with their resume, certification from EMPLOY, job leads, and other tools like bus fare and clothes for interviews. Retention specialists conducted 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up meetings with participants.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

The comparison group included people who were eligible for EMPLOY but did not participate in the program. They received standard reintegration services.

Study publications

Duwe, Grant (2015). The benefits of keeping idle hands busy: An outcome evaluation of a prisoner reentry employment program, Crime & Delinquency 61(4): 559-586. Available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1019.6826&rep=rep1&type=pdf

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

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