Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Targeting Intensive Job Assistance To Ex-Offenders By The Nature Of Offense: Results From A Randomized Control Trial, Christopher R. Bollinger, Aaron Yelowitz

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

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 …