Jennifer PhillipsWhitney Smith

1
Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration

• Jennifer Phillips Whitney Smith
• Senior Program Officer Program Manager
• 312-795-3822 312-795-3823
• jphillips_at_joycefdn.org wsmith_at_joycefdn.org

2
Thousands Leaving Prisons

• 600,000 released from prison each year and 2/3
• will be re-arrested within three years.
• The nation currently spends 60 billion per year
• on corrections
• Little is known about what keeps formerly
• incarcerated individuals from re-offending
• Research that does exist shows employment
• as a critical factor in reducing recidivism

3
Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration (TJRD)

• In December 2005, the Joyce Foundation
• board of directors approved a three-year
• grantmaking initiative that would launch a
• rigorous research demonstration program
• to test whether transitional jobs are a cost
• effective employment strategy for men
• leaving prison and returning to urban
• communities.

4
Goals of Demonstration

• To determine whether transitional jobs help male
  ex-prisoners connect to unsubsidized jobs
  increase their earnings and help reduce
  re-arrest and re-incarceration.
• To inform policymakers about the cost-benefit of
  transitional jobs programs for male ex-prisoners.

5
Participant Focus

• Male
• 18 or older
• Within three months of release (beginning
  pre-release okay)
• No restriction on offense

6
Timeline

• January 2006 Request for Proposals for sites
• April 2006 Board approved to MDRC, Urban
  Institute, and the University of Michigan for the
  evaluation
• July 2006 5 sites approved by Joyce Board
• October 2006 First cross-site meeting
• January 2007- March 2008 Random assignment takes
  place
• January 2009 Impact study findings available

7
TRJD Sites (and Control Sites)

• Goodwill Detroit/Michigan Prisoner Reentry
  Initiative (Jewish Vocational Services)
  Detroit, MI
• Goodwill Easter Seals (Wilder Foundation) St.
  Paul, MN
• Heartland Alliance (Behavioral Interventions)
  Chicago, IL
• The New Hope Project (Project Return)
  Milwaukee, WI
• The Safer Foundation Chicago, IL

8
Site selection criteria

• Relationship with State Department of Corrections
• Experience providing transitional jobs and/or
  other employment programs
• Experience working with ex-prisoners
• Ability to leverage other funds
• Demonstrated capacity to serve approximately 200
  transitional jobs participants and 200 job
  readiness/job placement participants (50 of each
  at a time) during the period of the demonstration
  project

9
Site selection criteria, continued

• Partnerships with other organizations as
  necessary to assure successful completion of all
  phases of the project
• Management information system adequate for data
  collection necessary for the research project
• Ability to manage payroll for transitional jobs
  participants
• Willingness to participate in all aspects of the
  research

10
Research design

• Multi-component evaluation including
• Random Assignment/Impact Study (RA takes place at
  different points depending on the demo model)
• Implementation study (with ethnographic
  component)
• Cost Analysis
• Control group receives basic employment readiness
  and placement
• Minimum of 200 transitional jobs and 200 control
  group participants at five sites

11
Budget

• Total estimated budget for both operations and
  evaluation 15.5 million
• Joyce investment 5.4 million
• Other funders JEHT Foundation U.S. Department
  of Labor state departments of correction in IL,
  MI, MN, and WI and various other local public
  and private sources

12

• The Joyce Foundation is a regional foundation
  located in Chicago. The Foundation makes grants
  in six Great Lakes states (Illinois, Indiana,
  Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin) and to
  national organizations when there is a Midwest
  impact. Funding support is focused on policy
  analysis, advocacy and research. The Employment
  program, one of six program areas at the
  foundation, makes nearly 7 million in grants
  annually.