Enterprising Offenders: Texas' Project Re-Enterprise Unites Business, Corrections Communities

• NCJ Number: 170140
• Journal: Corrections Today Volume: 59 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1997) Pages: 110-113
• Author(s): Marilyn Moses
• Date Published: June 1997
• Length: 4 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)

Annotation

Project Re-Enterprise (PRE) in Texas is a simple and novel approach for bringing the business and corrections communities together to address the difficult problem of post-release employment of ex-offenders.

Abstract

PRE is an informal education program created and administered by the Crime Prevention Institute (CPI). It is not an offender job placement program. However, inmates receive assistance in completing job applications, practicing classroom interviews, and attending a mock job fair. Each business owner or human resource officer who takes art in the mock interviews learns that inmates are individuals with names and faces, often with some education and employment experience. Fluor Daniel, an international construction engineering company, has hired 18 ex-offenders since its human resource officer started participating in PRE. Other jurisdictions considering establishing such a program should recognize the effort involved. Factors that hinder replication include difficulty in gaining entry into the business community and the high cost of outsourcing the program administration. CPI addresses the administration issue by preparing the mock job fair. Factors to consider in preparing for a PRE job fair include employer recruitment, inmate preparation, employer confirmation, scheduling, employer orientation, and the mock job interviews. State and private sources have funded the Texas program at a cost to date of about $475 per offender. PRE is now in its fifth year and is experiencing steady growth in employer participation. Photographs and 3 references