Paving a Positive Path: An Evaluation of a Jail-Based Work Release Program

• In Event: Jails and Prisoner Reentry

Abstract

The inability to find living wage employment is viewed by most scholars as a leading cause of offender recidivism. Yet, very little correctional programing is designed to link offenders to the workforce. Work release is an exception. Normally done at the prison level, work release programs provide incarcerated individuals an avenue to real world jobs while in custody. Due to the complexity of running such programming in a jail setting, few local governments offer work release options to their inmates. Our paper explores the efficacy of one of the rare communities which runs such a jail-based program. Comparing a control group of traditional jail inmates to a group of work release participants over a one year period, we examine recidivism outcomes. Our study represents one of the first large-scale evaluation of a jail-based work release program in two decades.

Authors

• Joseph Rukus, Arkansas State University

• Jodi Lane, University of Florida