NCJ Number
238598
Date Published
May 2012
Length
17 pages
Annotation
A sample of approximately 1,800 male former inmates were randomly assigned to either a transitional jobs (TJ) program or job search (JS) program in each of 4 States, and their employment and recidivism outcomes were followed 2 years after random assignment; analyses in this brief are based on the first year of the Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration (TJRD).
Abstract
The 1-year follow-up of the TJRD participants showed that the program produced early increases in employment driven by TJ participation; the program in one study site showed some short-term impacts on recidivism; however, across all four sites, the TJ programs reduced unsubsidized employment and earnings and did not affect the percentage of the sample that was arrested, convicted, or admitted to prison. Despite the somewhat discouraging findings of the first-year follow-up result of the overall TJRD evaluation, it is still possible to explore the comparative effectiveness of specific TJ program components. A "transitional job" is generally defined as "temporary, paid work experience intended to improve participants' employability, earnings, and longer term success in the unsubsidized labor market." Transitional jobs promote self-sufficiency in a prosocial (noncrminal) working environment. In addition to subsidized transitional jobs, TJ program participants were offered a number of ancillary services and support; these included job readiness/development assistance, case management services, vocational training, support payments, and retention bonuses. 3 tables, 1 figure, 7 references, and appended supplementary data