Assessing the Post-Release Impact of Work Release Programs on Employment, Recidivism, and Re-Imprisonment

This project will also provide empirical evidence which will assess the post-release impact of transitioning inmates from secure facilities to work release centers on employment, recidivism, and re-imprisonment. The sample will include all inmates classified as “community” custody at the time of their releases between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2009 and recidivism, using survival analysis to examine the probability of recidivism and the time to failure across the work release and non-work release cases. Second, logistic regression will be used to estimate the effect of work release on the likelihood of recidivism and employment within one, two, and three years’ post-release. This study will also examine the cost-benefits associated with work-release.

Contacts

Principal Investigator: William Bales, Ph.D.

Graduate Students: Catie Clark and Sam Scaggs

Dates: May 2012 to May 2015

Funding Agency: National Institute of Justice

Funding: $316,000