Program Evaluation of Indiana’s HIRE Reentry Program: The Effect of Job Quality on Recidivism

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

The HIRE program is a program that provides employment assistance to Indiana residents with felony offenses managed by WorkOne. To examine whether participants in the HIRE program, who obtained jobs after release from prison, had decreased recidivism, this study used a retrospective, quasi-experimental design to compare HIRE to all releases from Indiana prisons during 2014. The results show that participants of HIRE stay out of prison longer, and have a lower hazard of incarceration, than offenders released from prison when looking at both new offenses and technical violations. HIRE offenders who have better paying, more prestigious jobs have significantly lower hazards of reincarceration. Finally, the impact of individual-level factors such as sex, educational level, race/ethnicity, age, and offense type on quality of job placement are discussed.

Authors

• Brittany J. Hood, Indiana University

• Miriam Northcutt-Bohmert, Indiana University Bloomington

• Jessica Meckes, Indiana University