16: Work Experience
Provide inmates with opportunities to participate in work assignments and skill-building programs that build toward successful careers in the community.
Overview
By considering the local labor market and expanding the range of work assignments to include volunteer, pre-apprenticeship, and work-release programs, corrections administrators are more likely to provide people in prison and jail with the skills and experience necessary to obtain gainful employment in the community.
Research Highlights
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Just over half of the prison population works while incarcerated.
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The type of work assignments available to inmates often does not match the employment needs in the local labor market.
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Research suggests numerous benefits from correctional work programs.
Recommendations
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Provide work assignments in prison or jail that correspond to the needs of the employment market.
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Develop pre-apprenticeship work assignments which provide a clear path into community-based apprenticeship programs in high demand occupations.
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Establish work programs that involve nonprofit, volunteer, and community service organizations so that participants can gain work experience without competing with other potential employees in the community.
Related Policy Statements
Our Publications
Homelessness and Prisoner Reentry
Many people released from prison or jail are at risk for homelessness, which can increase the likelihood that they will commit new crimes and return to prison.
Related Information
Issue Area:
Education and Employment
Special Project:
Sex Offenders
Program Example:
California: Ex-Felon Employment Initiative
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and National Economic Development and Law Center

