Evaluation of the Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative Final Report
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EVALUATION OF THE PRISONER RE-ENTRY INITIATIVE FINAL REPORT January 13, 2009 Prepared for: U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Prepared by: Bethesda, Maryland Authors: Coffey Consulting, LLC Douglas B. Holl, Project Director Lisa Kolovich, Senior Researcher Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Jeanne Bellotti, Principal Investigator Nora Paxton, Senior Programmer Analyst Editors: Mary Grady, Coffey Consulting, LLC Amy C. Coffey, Coffey Consulting, LLC This project has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under Contract Number DOLJ051A20205. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government. ACKNOWLEDGMENT In late 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor selected 30 organizations to operate Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (PRI) programs, each one intended to help at least 200 formerly incarcerated individuals find jobs and re-enter their communities annually. This report is the product of several years of research into the operations of these projects; it is also built upon prior research in the criminal justice and workforce fields. The Project Director and Principal Investigator thank the many individuals who contributed directly to the preparation of this report. The Federal Project Officer for the PRI evaluation in the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, Eileen Pederson, provided valuable guidance and input throughout the course of the evaluation. Staff at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR)—particularly Karen Needels, who served as Senior Advisor, Linda Rosenberg who acted as a Quality Assurance Reviewer, Linda Heath who assisted with document formatting, and Bill Garrett who proofread the report—played important roles. We are grateful to Douglas Young of the University of Maryland and David Altschuler of Johns Hopkins University for their perspectives as experts on the criminal justice system and for their thoughtful advice through the entire evaluation process. At Coffey Consulting, LLC (Coffey), Rex Hall provided helpful insights throughout the planning and data collection processes and served as site visitor extraordinaire. Research assistant Andrea Wise brought considerable enthusiasm and helped enormously with organizing the documentation from site visit interviews. We also recognize two individuals for their contributions to nearly every phase of the evaluation. Among their many roles, Nora Paxton, Senior Programmer Analyst at MPR, The Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative Evaluation Final Report January 13, 2009 Coffey Consulting, LLC, and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. i and Lisa Kolovich, Senior Researcher at Coffey, conducted site visits, analyzed data, and authored portions of this report. We also owe our gratitude to the specialists who helped to ensure that the full report achieved a degree of readability and precision. Mary Grady edited the initial compilation of this report, and Amy Coffey provided quality assurance in the form of final edits. Jennifer Bebermeyer assisted with layout and formatting. Finally, this report would not be possible without the cooperation of the staff and associates at the PRI project sites who welcomed us into their offices and set aside their day-to- day business to share their information and experiences and participate in conversations with us. Douglas Holl Jeanne Bellotti The Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative Evaluation Final Report January 13, 2009 Coffey Consulting, LLC, and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT .............................................................................................................. i TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... iii EXHIBITS, FIGURES, AND TABLES ................................................................................... vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... xii I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................1 A. PRISONER RE-ENTRY: THE POLICY IMPETUS................................................2 B. THE PRISONER RE-ENTRY INITIATIVE ..............................................................5 1. The Federal Partnership.................................................................................................5 2. The Three-Stage Prisoner Re-Entry Framework ........................................................5 3. Faith-Based and Community Context...........................................................................8 4. Key Parameters of PRI ...................................................................................................8 C. THE PRI EVALUATION............................................................................................13 1. Key Research Questions ...............................................................................................13 2. Interim Report Findings...............................................................................................14 3. Data Sources for the Final Report...............................................................................16 D. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT ......................................................................17 II. PRI GRANTEES AND COMMUNITIES...........................................................................18 A. GRANTEE CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................19 1. The Grantee Organizations ..........................................................................................19 2. Grantee Experience.......................................................................................................19 B. GRANTEE COMMUNITIES .....................................................................................22 1. Economic Conditions ....................................................................................................23 2. State Approaches to Incarceration and Community Supervision............................25 III. ORGANIZATION OF PROGRAM SERVICES..............................................................28 A. APPROACHES TO PROJECT ORGANIZATION.................................................29 1. Degree of Program Centralization...............................................................................29 2. Staffing Considerations.................................................................................................32 3. Supervising Participants...............................................................................................34 B. PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ...........................................................................35 1. Overview ........................................................................................................................35 2. Criminal Justice Partners (Institutional)....................................................................36 3. Criminal Justice Partners (Community).....................................................................39 4. Housing...........................................................................................................................41 5. Workforce Investment System.....................................................................................43 6. Health-Related Partners ...............................................................................................46 7. Summary of Relationship Perceptions and Implications for Projects .....................48 The Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative Evaluation Final Report January 13, 2009 Coffey Consulting, LLC, and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. iii IV. PROJECT OPERATIONS..................................................................................................49 A. DATA SOURCES FOR THIS CHAPTER ................................................................49 B. PERCEPTIONS OF CHALLENGES FACED BY EX-OFFENDERS...................51 C. TRENDS IN PROGRAM DESIGN OVER TIME....................................................52 D. PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT, INTAKE, AND ASSESSMENT.....................54 1. Pre-release Connections................................................................................................54 2. Recruitment and Referral Processes ...........................................................................57 3. Participant Intake Processes ........................................................................................59 4. Participant Assessment Processes................................................................................64 E. CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ......................................................................66 1. Case Manager Responsibilities ....................................................................................66 2. Developing an Individual Development Plan (IDP) ...................................................69 F. MENTORING...............................................................................................................70 1. Mentor Recruitment .....................................................................................................71 3. Recruiting