Impact of Community-Based Employment on Offender Reintegration

• NCJ Number: 213427
• Journal: Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 10-14
• Author(s): Christa A. Gillis; Mark Nafekh
• Date Published: June 2005
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This Canadian study compared community outcomes for a sample of Federal offenders who were employed while on conditional release and a matched comparison group of offenders who were unemployed.

Abstract

When compared to their matched counterparts, employed men were more likely to remain on conditional release until the end of their sentence. For employed men who returned to prison, the median time to return was longer than for unemployed men. Employed men were also less likely to return to Federal custody with a new offense or technical revocation. For women offenders, the employed group was more likely to remain on conditional release until the end of their sentence. At the end of the study period, approximately 70 percent of the employed group remained on conditional release compared with approximately 55 percent of the unemployed group. The employed group was less likely to return with a new offense. These findings should reinforce the perception of employment as an important factor in an offenders' community reintegration and further the status of employment services as a program area. Community employment information was available from Correctional Services Canada for 23,525 Federal offenders released on a conditional release between January 1, 1998, and January 1, 2005. Approximately 95 percent were men, and 5 percent were women. Offenders were divided according to who was employed between their release date and the end of their sentence and those who were unemployed. The employed group was then randomly matched to the unemployed group. The three outcome measures were any return to Federal custody before the end of the sentence; a return to Federal custody with a new offense before the end of the sentence; and a return to Federal custody without a new offense before the end of the sentence. Comparisons were made separately for men and women. 5 figures and 13 notes