Although work-release programs may be beneficial at any time during a person's period of incarceration, such programs should at least be employed for individuals in the final six to twenty-four months of their prison or jail term. (See Policy Statement 16, Work Experience, for a discussion on the merits of work-release programming prior to the transitional phase.) In addition to providing actual, community-based experience for people in prison just before they re-enter the community, work-release programs provide an opportunity to educate local employers about the benefits and risks of employing inmates, paving the way for greater understanding and collaboration between the institution and the private sector.

Integrating released individuals into the workplace prior to their release will also help with the development of certain "soft skills" needed to maintain employment. For example, in the controlled environment of work release, prisoners can learn the difference between appropriate interpersonal skills in prison versus those in the community and workplace. Inmates will get to see firsthand the type of work ethic needed in the workforce to avoid re-incarceration in the future. Moreover, the "temporary" placement during work release may become a foundation for permanent placement upon release.

Example: Adult Transition Centers, Safer Foundation (IL)

The Safer Foundation administers two minimum security male residential Adult Transition Centers (ATCs) for the Department of Corrections. ATC residents remain Illinois inmates but are required to participate for a minimum of 35 hours per week in outside employment, education, life skills, and/or community service, while also assuming responsibility for daily in-house assignments. To ensure that participants are prepared for and find jobs, the Safer Foundation devotes case managers, job developers, basic skills programmers, and other supportive services staff to each ATC. Participants are transferred to Safer ATCs with a maximum of two years remaining in their sentences. They stay for an average of 10-11 months, and seldom for less than five months.

Because work-release participants will be in the community, however, corrections officials must be especially careful about selecting inmates to participate in such programs. Accordingly, violent or high-risk individuals should not be eligible for work-release programs. Further, work release should be reserved for those inmates who show an interest in improving their skills or securing stable and productive employment upon release. Indicators of eligible participants may include consistent participation, initiative, and advancement in skill-training courses, academic courses, or job-search and employability opportunities. In this way, corrections officials can use work release as an incentive or reward for good behavior.

The benefits that work release can provide are particularly important for those individuals whose release date is subject to the discretion of a releasing authority. Parole boards do not use the ability to find employment as criteria for release, but parole decisions are made on the basis of the risk classification, the existence of a suitable home, and the assumption that the parolee will be working in one to two weeks. Work release greatly increases the chances of the inmate being able to meet this assumption.

On the other hand, some corrections officials may want work-release programs to target inmates who are approaching the end of their sentences and will be released to limited or no supervision. Because work release offers prisoners restricted, supervised involvement in the community prior to their release, it provides a good bridge between the completely monitored life of incarceration and the relatively unsupervised (or, for those with no probation or parole after release, completely unsupervised) life of the community.

In addition to deciding who is eligible for work release, corrections officials should set clear guidelines for work-release projects. For instance, work-release inmates should not be allowed to attend off-site or overnight work functions. Moreover, inmates who engage in inappropriate or uncooperative behavior, whether or not it relates to their work-release assignment, should be removed from the work release program.

For employers, there are many benefits to supporting work release programs: the department of corrections absorbs most of the risk, provides transportation, and provides low-wage workers in employment areas where there is a shortage of workers. Ideally, employers will extend time positions to work release employees upon their release.

Example: Work-release facilities, Pioneer Human Services and the Washington Department of Corrections

Pioneer Human Services, an entrepreneurial nonprofit, operates several work-release facilities that provide residents with an integrated program of treatment, job training, support services and work at a Pioneer business. Probation violators and individuals in the last three to six months of their sentences are eligible. Pioneer provides comprehensive work, housing, counseling, and job-site services, including health insurance, to encourage and support independent living. When clients leave the work-release program, they can continue working with Pioneer.

When prisons are far from the communities to which released individuals will return, it can be very difficult for an inmate to establish relationships with potential future employers. Responding to this concern, some jurisdictions have created work release programs that enable prisoners to move closer to their home communities as they near their release date.

Example: Jail Transition Program, Virginia Department of Corrections

The Jail Transition Program focuses on moving individuals from prisons to local jails and back into their communities. Selected individuals transfer to their local jails and receive pre-release transition services 90 days before and 45 days after release. Some participants begin work release while attending workshops. Individuals convicted of serious crimes not eligible for work release attend additional classroom programs. Upon release, participants have had the benefit of intensive workshops, connections with community resources, focused career/life goals, and job search skills, and will benefit from continued support from the program.

Another way to provide people with skills as well as community-based experience during their incarceration is work release for community service work. As with prison-based volunteer work, work-release community service will give the inmate the opportunity to maintain and, ideally, to improve his or her skills. Participating in community service projects also helps the corrections system politically because the community can actually see inmates "giving back" and providing restitution to the community. Some programs, such as the ones that have inmates work to clear land and then distribute the wood as firewood to the community, actually combine work release with community service.

Example: Pre-Release Program, The Kintock Group (NJ)

The residential Pre-Release Program, operated by the nonprofit Kintock Group for the State of New Jersey, helps individuals within 18 months of parole transition from incarceration to employment and community life. In addition to job readiness and other educational programs, the Kintock Group requires that its participants perform community service before they can obtain overnight furloughs.