NCJ Number
174783
Date Published
1998
Length
43 pages
Annotation
This document reports on a study measuring probation service effectiveness at increasing the employability of offenders as a direct contribution to crime prevention.
Abstract
The study analyzed the employment-related interventions (EIs) attempted by 11 area probation services, and the employment-related outcomes (EOs) recorded as achieved in 739 terminated case files of whom 480 had been unemployed at and soon after the start of supervision. With offenders who were unemployed on commencement, those who had an EI gained a job before their supervision ended at twice the rate of those who did not have an EI during their supervision (40 percent vs. 20 percent). The rate of success was similar whether the intervention was directly provided by the probation service or was purchased from a partnership agency. Of the 739 cases studied, 16 percent were employed at the start of supervision and 31 percent were employed when supervision ended. In 55 percent of the unemployed cases no intervention was attempted. The main reasons why EIs were attempted in some cases and not in others appeared to be inconsistent or diffident probation practice. Figures, notes, tables, references, appendixes