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The TJRD provided former prisoners with job search and placement assistance to help reduce recidivism and increase self-sufficiency among participants.

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The TJRD provided former prisoners with job search and placement assistance to help reduce recidivism and increase self-sufficiency among participants.

TJRD participants were provided with 30 to 40 hours of temporary paid employment; job search assistance; and other supports, including job coaching and classes before employment. Case managers acted as the primary point of contact for participants and helped participants access support for transportation, housing, and clothing, as well as referrals to training programs and substance abuse or mental health treatment. Within two weeks of random assignment, participants would report to their temporary jobs, which typically lasted 90 days with the option to extend as slots were available.

Eligible participants were men age 18 or older who had been released from prison within the previous 90 days, were interested in and available for full-time employment, and had not participated in transitional employment within the previous year. Participants in later cohorts in Milwaukee and St. Paul also received bonuses (up to $1,500) for obtaining and retaining unsubsidized employment. The TJRD was implemented in Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Milwaukee, WI; and St. Paul, MN.

Year evaluation began: 2007
Implementing organization(s): Goodwill (in Detroit and St. Paul), Safer Foundation (in Chicago), and New Hope Project (in Milwaukee)
Populations and employment barriers: Male, Former incarceration
Intervention services: Case management, Employment retention services, Financial incentives, Supportive services, Subsidized employment, Transitional jobs, Work readiness activities, Job development/job placement
Setting(s): Urban only

Effectiveness Rating and Effect By Outcome Domain

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Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2018 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Mixed support favorable $523 per year 0.03 1774
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $628 per year 0.03 1774
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase employment Short-term Mixed support favorable 2% (in percentage points) 0.05 1774
Long-term Supported favorable 11% (in percentage points) 0.26 1774
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term No evidence to assess support
Long-term No evidence to assess support
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods No evidence to assess support
* This intervention was assessed as supported for this domain, meaning it achieved one or more statistically significant, favorable effects. However, the intervention has an average effect size that is unfavorable because the average includes all effects in this domain - both statistically significant and favorable effects and statistically insignificant but unfavorable effects.

Effectiveness rating key:

  • Well-supported Well-supported   
  • Supported  Supported   
  • Not supported  Not supported   
  • Mixed support  Mixed support   
  • Insufficient evidence  Insufficient evidence   
  • No evidence  No evidence
Effectiveness rating terms?

Studies of this Intervention

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Study Quality Rating Study Counts per Rating
High High 1