Work Programs for Former Prisoners to Be Evaluated

The effectiveness of programs that try to rehabilitate former prisoners by giving them jobs is being put to the test in a new three-year study, reports The New York Times.

The study—sponsored the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago grant maker, and directed by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, in New York—will begin in January and will follow 2,000 former male prisoners in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and St. Paul for three years to determine whether they end up in jail again and to see how long they stay in their jobs.

Half the men will receive a small amount of training, such as help putting together a resume. The other half will receive this training in addition to a temporary job to help them transition back into a regular work schedule.

The groups will be compared with a control group of maintenance workers in New York to determine how well, if at all, charity programs keep ex-prisoners employed.