Returning Home Illinois Policy Brief: Employment and Prisoner Reentry

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Returning Home Illinois
Policy Brief
URBAN INSTITUTE
Justice Policy Center
2100 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://justice.urban.org
Employment and
Prisoner Reentry
By Vera Kachnowski
Prepared for the Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority
August 2005
Returning Home: Understanding the
Challenges of Prisoner Reentry is a
longitudinal study of prisoner reentry in
Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas.
Returning Home explores the phenomenon
of prisoner reentry within five domains: (1)
the individual experience, as documented
through interviews with prisoners before
and after release from prison; (2) the family
experience, as documented through
interviews with family members of returning
prisoners; (3) the peer group experience, as
documented through prisoner interviews
both before and after their release; (4) the
community experience, as documented
through interviews with key community
stakeholders and focus groups with
residents; and (5) the broader policy
environment at the state level.
In Illinois, the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller
Foundation, the Woods Fund of Chicago,
the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the
Illinois Criminal Justice Information
Authority supported Returning Home. The
Metro Chicago Information Center (MCIC)
conducted the original data collection,
under the expert direction of Dr. Alisú
Schoua-Glusberg.
This report was supported by Grant 02-DB-BX-
0017 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of
Justice, through the Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority. Points of view or opinions
contained within this document are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the official
position or policies of the U.S. Department of
Justice, or the Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority.
Finding employment is one of the most important
reintegration challenges ex-prisoners face after release, and
one that can have a significant impact on their chances of
remaining crime-free. Prior research shows that finding and
maintaining a legitimate job after release can reduce the
chances of reoffending following release from prison,
especially for older offenders.1 Research also shows that the
higher the wages, the less likely persons released from prison
will return to crime.2
Although two-thirds of former prisoners report that they held a
job just prior to their incarceration, most prisoners experience
great difficulties finding jobs after their release.3 During the
time they spend in prison, individuals lose work skills, forfeit
the opportunity to gain work experience, and sever
interpersonal connections and social contacts that could lead
to legal employment opportunities upon release.4 And, while
the period of incarceration could be viewed as an opportunity
to build skills and prepare for placement at a future job, the
evaluation literature provides mixed support for the
effectiveness of in-prison job training programs.5 After release,
the stigma of their ex-prisoner status makes the job search
even more difficult: a recent survey of 3,000 employers in four
major metropolitan areas revealed that two-thirds of the
employers would not knowingly hire an ex-prisoner.6
This policy brief draws on employment data gathered as part of
the Returning Home study through interviews with 400 male
Illinois prisoners before and up to three times after their
release.7 We present findings on pre- and in-prison
employment training and experiences as well as postrelease
employment outcomes among released prisoners who
returned to Chicago. We also detail the characteristics of
successful job seekers and briefly discuss the policy
implications.