Earnings

Earnings

Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration (TJRD) had the largest effects on long-term annual earnings (an average of $1,094 per year). The TJRD provided people who were formerly incarcerated with job search and placement assistance and subsidized employment opportunities to help reduce recidivism and increase self-sufficiency among participants.

Employment

Employment

Abstinence-Contingent Wage Supplements for Drug Use had the largest effects on long-term employment (an average of 18 percentage points). Abstinence-Contingent Wage Supplements for Drug Use was designed to promote drug abstinence and vocational entry among unemployed adults in treatment for opioid use disorder by providing financial incentives dependent on verified abstinence.

Public benefit receipt

Public benefit receipt

Re-Integration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) Program had the largest effects on long-term benefit receipt (decreasing the amount of public benefits received by $0 per year). The RExO program aimed to promote employment and reduce recidivism by providing case management, mentoring, and other employment services to people recently released from prison.

Effects on long-term benefit receipt

$0

Decrease long-term benefit receipt

Education and training

Education and training

Bridges to Pathways (Bridges) had the largest effects on education and training (increasing the attainment of a degree or credential by an average of 4 percentage points). Bridges offered educational services and subsidized internships to help Chicago male youth with previous justice system involvement earn a GED and find employment.

About Face

Intervention (standard name)

The intervention provided access to supplemental resources in the Veterans Employment Resource Center (VERC). The standard VERC services included internet and phone access for job search activities, resume writing supports, video training for applying to and interviewing for jobs, and two video-recorded practice interviews. In addition, the program provided intervention participants with the About Face vocational manual and in-person classes during the week following study enrollment.

About Face—Self Study

Intervention (standard name)

The About Face—Self Study intervention provided participants with a vocational manual titled About Face in addition to standard services from the Veterans Employment Resource Center (VERC). The standard VERC services included internet and phone access for job search activities, resume writing supports, video training for applying to and interviewing for jobs, and two video-recorded practice interviews.

Post-Release Intensive Case Management (ICM) for Reentering Women

Through ICM, case managers worked with participants who were incarcerated to determine their needs and goals and to establish reentry plans for support after release. After participants’ release from prison, case managers connected them to mental and physical health treatment, employment, education, and housing services. Participants had access to 24-hour case management and no limits on the duration of participation. Mental and physical health treatment services included mental health, substance abuse, and medical and dental treatment.

Prison-Based Adult Basic Education (ABE)

Intervention (standard name)

ABE provided participants with basic education services. For participants who were reading below a ninth-grade level at program entry, the services focused on elevating their reading skills. If a participant was already at or achieved a ninth-grade reading level during the program, they attended adult secondary education classes focused on preparation for GED exams. Participants also took literacy and cognitive life skills classes. A participant could enroll in one or more ABE classes, which varied in duration.