A Long-Term Follow-Up Evaluation of an Employment Assistance Reentry Program

Abstract

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of an employment assistance program implemented in Minnesota prisons by examining recidivism and post-release employment outcomes of 2,814 individuals released between 2009 and 2018. Observable selection bias was reduced by using propensity score matching to create similar treatment and comparison groups. Results of Cox regression analyses showed that completing EMPLOY reduced the hazard ratio for recidivism by 27–66%. The findings further showed that those who completed EMPLOY were more likely to gain post-release employment within two years after release from prison and worked more hours, had higher hourly wages, and earned more total wages during the two-year follow-up period.

Keywords:

• Employment
• reentry
• recidivism
• vocational program

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 EMPLOY is not an acronym but rather is the actual name of the program.

2 Eligibility for EMPLOY is not limited to those residing in a particular correctional facility.

3 Jobs offered by MINNCOR include assembly, cabinet making, packaging, sewing, printing, laundry, and wood fabrication.

4 According to Little’s test, the data were not missing completely at random (χ² = 1042.226, p < .001). Those removed from the sample due to not receiving an LSI-R assessment were less likely to have a high school degree, be released on ISR, participate in treatment, be a DWI or sex offender, while they were more likely to be incarcerated for a release return, committed from the Twin Cities area, drug or person offenders, and released to a community program. They were also younger; had fewer prior felony convictions, supervision failures, and discipline convictions; had shorter incarcerations; and were released more recently.

5 Those who were discharged with no supervision were not included in the analyses predicting supervised release revocation.

6 This was calculated by exponentiating the coefficient, subtracting 1, and multiplying by 100.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan McNeeley

Susan McNeeley is a senior research analyst with the Minnesota Department of Corrections. In addition to corrections, her research interests include criminology and victimology. Her recent work has been published in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Crime and Delinquency.