Developing employment skills in offenders can make a difference. Several jurisdictions report favorable impact on recidivism for offenders who participate in job-readiness/employment skills services. The NIC Community Services Division can help develop skills through three training opportunities for correctional staff tasked with offender workforce development, and the NIC information Center can provide supportive resources.
Several reports show that employment can impact recidivism. Research on the Virginia Department of Correctional Education’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program “Career and Technical Education Program's Influences on Post-Release Outcomes for Offenders in Virginia” says program participants recidivate at lower rate than non-participants (35.2% versus 40.7%). A study of Ready4Work published in 2006, “Ready4Work In Brief: Update on Outcomes; Reentry May Be Critical for States, Cities”, showed a reduction in recidivism within one year compared to national recidivism statistics. Ready4Work programs provided employment services, case management and mentoring in 11 adult sites around the country. In a bulletin published by NIC “Creating a Workforce Development Culture to Reduce Recidivism”, the Vermont Department of Corrections Workforce Development Program showed a 20% reduction in re-incarceration for males and 37% reduction for females after 6 months for program completers. In a study in the Kansas Department of Corrections “Offender Workforce Development Services Makes an Impact”, offenders who received offender workforce development services had a recidivism rate 33% lower than the comparison group.
“A lot of evidence points toward the impact of offender employment on recidivism.” says Scott Weygandt, former Social Science Research Assistant for NIC’s Offender Workforce Development initiative in the NIC Community Services Division and co-author of the Kansas DOC report. “Given the multiplicity of offender needs, there is never one single factor yielding impact. However, enhancing offender employability is very promising as an emerging evidence-based practice in corrections.”
The NIC Community Services Division offers three offender employment training opportunities for staff at no cost to the requesting agencies.
This three-day program provides participants with foundation in the topic of offender workforce development and emphasizes building collaboration as a critical factor. It provides information about best and promising practices. The NIC resource “Offender Employment Specialist: Building Bridges” DVD/CD set is a core component of the training. For more information, and to watch an informational video, go to NIC OES.
This competency-based training focuses on essential skills and also teaches participants how to develop their own training and workforce development services. The two-week program consists of classroom instruction followed by 80 hours of required e-learning, hands-on practice, and homework assignments. Completion of the OWDS Partnership Training meets the requirements for certification as a Global Career Development Facilitator through the Center for Credentialing and Education. For additional information about the OWDS Partnership Training please see NIC’s Administrative Guide: Offender Workforce Development Specialist Training Program or contact Francina Carter, NIC Correctional Program Specialist.
“The Offender Workforce Development Specialist Training Program has been a catalyst for positive change across the country” says NIC Correctional Program Specialist Francina Carter. “It has created partnerships between criminal justice agencies and their community partners where none existed before and given participants a common set of professional, evidenced-based skills needed for improving reentry outcomes in their communities. It has also created a national network of offender workforce development professionals who can call upon each other for support and guidance.”
This training addresses a key component in offender employment, job retention , by teaching how to apply evidence-based practices in corrections including Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment principles to support self-change and also the use of an employment retention inventory to identify an offender’s challenges around a potential for job-loss. See NIC’s Offender Employment Retention webpage for training opportunities as well as other resources, or contact P. Elizabeth Taylor, NIC Correctional Program Specialist.
“Offender job retention really speaks to risk reduction and public safety” says Ms Taylor. “Correctional agencies have generally done well at job placement; job retention is the key to having impact. Collaboration and communication, as well as applying motivational interviewing skills and implementing cognitive-behavioral strategies, enhance success at building employment skills in offenders. Motivational interviewing provides a strength-based approach to support offenders exploration of the feelings and behaviors that impact their ability to maintain long-term attachments to the workforce.”
The following resources for offender workforce development staff are available through the NIC Information Center:
Career Resource Centers: An Emerging Strategy for Improving Offender Employment Outcomes (DVD)
Career Resource Centers (four disk set)
Using Labor Market Information to Promote Positive Employment Outcomes for Offenders (CD)
Simulated On-Line/Kiosk Job Application (CD)
Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: An Effective Re-Entry Strategy (NIC Satellite/Internet Broadcast 2008 DVD/CD set)
Employment and Female Offenders: An Update of the Empirical Research (PDF)
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For the most current offender workforce development information and resources, always check NIC’s Transition and Offender Workforce Development resource page and the Offender Employment discussion forum.
Points of view or opinions stated in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.