The Effect of a Workplace and Community Transition Training Transitional Program on Employment and Recidivism Outcomes

• In Event: Employment Focused Programs and Prisoner Reentry

Abstract

The Workplace and Community Transition Training Program for Incarcerated Individuals was administered by the Florida Department of Corrections from 1997-2012. This vocational program offered job skills training in several fields including: web design, construction project coordinator, culinary arts, HVAC, and Landscape Irrigation. The inmates were also given the opportunity to receive vocational certificates and invited to re-entry seminars in which Federal, state and local businesses shared information about the services and jobs available. While there have been many evaluations of vocational studies, Bouffard et al. (2000) notes that there is a “pervasive lack” of rigorous program evaluations of vocational programs, making it difficult to develop firm conclusions about the effect of these programs. This study aims to provide a methodologically sound evaluation of a vocational program to add to the growing literature on the effect of these programs. Using precision matching, this study will determine the effect this program had on individual employment and recidivism outcomes. The matched groups will be compared on several recidivism outcome measures (re-arrest, re-incarceration, technical violations, time to arrest, and time to incarceration) and employment upon release.

Authors

• Leslie Brooke Hill, Florida State University

• William Bales, Florida State University