IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp14078.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Targeting Intensive Job Assistance to Ex-Offenders by the Nature of Offense: Results from a Randomized Control Trial

Author

Listed:
  • Bollinger, Christopher R.

    (University of Kentucky)

  • Yelowitz, Aaron

    (University of Kentucky)

Abstract

As many as two-thirds of newly-released inmates will be arrested for a new offense within three years. This study evaluates the impact of job assistance on recidivism rates among ex-offenders. The job assistance program, run though the private company America Works, uses a network of employers to place clients. Ex-offenders were randomly assigned to intensive job assistance (treatment group) or the standard program (control group). The intensive program is meant to improve average work readiness for ex-offenders. It reduces the likelihood of subsequent arrest among non-violent ex-offenders, but has little effect on violent ex-offenders. The re-arrest rate for non-violent ex-offenders in the treatment group was 19 percentage points lower than those in the control group. The re-arrest rate for violent ex-offenders in the treatment group was indistinguishable from those in the control group. We estimate benefits from intensive job assistance from averted crimes and find that they outweigh the $5,000 up-front cost for non-violent ex-offenders.

Suggested Citation

  • Bollinger, Christopher R. & Yelowitz, Aaron, 2021. "Targeting Intensive Job Assistance to Ex-Offenders by the Nature of Offense: Results from a Randomized Control Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 14078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14078
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp14078.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Osborne Jackson & Bo Zhao, 2017. "The effect of changing employers’ access to criminal histories on ex-offenders’ labor market outcomes: evidence from the 2010–2012 Massachusetts CORI Reform," Working Papers 16-30, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    2. Steven Raphael, 2010. "Improving Employment Prospects for Former Prison Inmates: Challenges and Policy," NBER Working Papers 15874, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Amanda Agan & Sonja Starr, 2017. "The Effect of Criminal Records on Access to Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 560-564, May.
    4. Steven Raphael, 2010. "Improving Employment Prospects for Former Prison Inmates: Challenges and Policy," NBER Chapters, in: Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs, pages 521-565, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Doleac, Jennifer, 2018. "Strategies to Productively Reincorporate the Formerly-Incarcerated into Communities: A Review of the Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 11646, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Erin Valentine & Cindy Redcross, 2015. "Transitional jobs after release from prison: effects on employment and recidivism," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Amanda Agan & Sonja Starr, 2018. "Ban the Box, Criminal Records, and Racial Discrimination: A Field Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(1), pages 191-235.
    8. Kevin T. Schnepel, 2018. "Good Jobs and Recidivism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 447-469, February.
    9. Jennifer L. Doleac & Benjamin Hansen, 2020. "The Unintended Consequences of “Ban the Box”: Statistical Discrimination and Employment Outcomes When Criminal Histories Are Hidden," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 321-374.
    10. Yang, Crystal S., 2017. "Local labor markets and criminal recidivism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 16-29.
    11. Kevin T. Schnepel, 2018. "Good Jobs and Recidivism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 447-469.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bastien Michel & Camille Hémet, 2022. "Custodial versus non-custodial sentences: Long-run evidence from an anticipated reform," PSE Working Papers halshs-03899897, HAL.
    2. Joshua M. Congdon-Hohman, 2018. "The persistent labor market effects of a criminal conviction and �Ban the Box� reforms," Working Papers 1808, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    3. Amanda Y. Agan & Michael D. Makowsky, 2023. "The Minimum Wage, EITC, and Criminal Recidivism," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(5), pages 1712-1751.
    4. Darolia, Rajeev & Mueser, Peter & Cronin, Jacob, 2021. "Labor market returns to a prison GED," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. William Arbour & Steeve Marchand, 2022. "Parole, Recidivism, and the Role of Supervised Transition," Working Papers tecipa-725, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    6. Hémet, Camille & Michel, Bastien, 2020. "Incarceration versus probation? Long-run evidence from an anticipated reform," CEPR Discussion Papers 15047, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Zanella, Giulio, 2020. "Prison Work and Convict Rehabilitation," IZA Discussion Papers 13446, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Marguerite Burns & Laura Dague, 2023. "In-Kind Welfare Benefits and Reincarceration Risk: Evidence from Medicaid," NBER Working Papers 31394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Fone, Zachary S. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Cesur, Resul, 2023. "The unintended effects of minimum wage increases on crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    10. Benjamin Monnery & Saïd Souam & Anna Montagutelli, 2021. "Economie du travail en prison : enjeux, résultats et recommandations," EconomiX Working Papers 2021-26, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    11. Otto Lenhart, 2021. "Earned income tax credit and crime," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 589-607, July.
    12. Yuki Otsu, 2024. "Does visitation in prison reduce recidivism?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 126-156, January.
    13. Mitre-Becerril, David & MacDonald, John M., 2024. "Does urban development influence crime? Evidence from Philadelphia’s new zoning regulations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    14. Otsu, Yuki & Yuen, C.Y. Kelvin, 2022. "Health, crime, and the labor market: Theory and policy analysis," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    15. Cody Tuttle, 2019. "Snapping Back: Food Stamp Bans and Criminal Recidivism," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 301-327, May.
    16. Pallab K. Ghosh & Gary A. Hoover & Zexuan Liu, 2020. "Do State Minimum Wages Affect the Incarceration Rate?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 845-872, January.
    17. Riku Laine & Mikko Aaltonen & Mikko Myrskylä & Pekka Martikainen, 2023. "Sociohistorical context and post-prison life course," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-037, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    18. Dasgupta, Kabir & Diegmann, André & Kirchmaier, Tom & Plum, Alexander, 2022. "The gender reveal: The effect of sons on young fathers’ criminal behavior and labor market activities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    19. Keith Finlay & Michael Mueller‐Smith & Brittany Street, 2023. "Criminal Justice Involvement, Self‐Employment, and Barriers in Recent Public Policy," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 11-34, January.
    20. Christian Brown, 2019. "Incarceration and Earnings: Distributional and Long-Term Effects," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 58-83, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    criminal recidivism; rapid workforce attachment;

    JEL classification:

    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14078. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.