The Report > Review of the Re-Entry Process > Transition > Workforce Development and the Transition Plan

D: Managing the Key Transition Period

1: Few inmates are connected to actual jobs-transitional or permanent-before release.

In this chapter:

  • Overview
  • Research Highlights:
  • Recommendations:

    • While being employed is associated with reductions in recidivism, [1]   most inmates leave prison without having an actual job in place. A large three-state recidivism study, for example, found that less than half of released prisoners had a job lined up upon their return to the community. [2]   Studies from other states reveal even more sobering findings. Of 400 male prison inmates from Chicago who were surveyed prior to their release, only 14 percent had a postrelease job lined up at the time of their interview. [3]  

    1. No citation found for FN_work-as-a-turning-point-for-criminal-offenders! ; No citation found for FN_labor-markets-and-crime! .

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    2. No citation found for FN_three-state-recidivism-study! .

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    3. Christy Visher, Nancy G. LaVigne, and Jill Farrell, Illinois Prisoners' Reflections on Returning Home (The Urban Institute, 2003-09-09) .

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