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Summary

Cognitive Behavioral Program for Justice-Involved Individuals Seeking Employment (CBI-Emp) provided a series of workshops to fathers with prior justice involvement. The workshops aimed to teach cognitive behavioral skills that would help participants become job ready and maintain employment.

CBI-Emp offers 31 group sessions developed by the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute, including skill- and application-based sessions. The program primarily supported soft skills development. Skill-based sessions taught participants positive social skills to manage employment challenges, and application sessions provided participants with support for building individual plans for success in the workplace.  Three community-based organizations that deliver job-readiness services and have experience serving fathers involved in the justice system implemented CBI-Emp.

Eligible participants were fathers who had been involved with the justice system in the last 3 years, were at least 18 years old, had kids younger than 25, and were moderately or highly likely to experience justice involvement in the future. Participants were told to attend 14 skill-based sessions and 6 application sessions; the other 11 were optional Each session was between 60 and 90 minutes and programming lasted five weeks. Financial incentives varied at each organization, but participants received between $25 and $200 depending on how many sessions they attended.

CBI-Emp was implemented from October 2016 to December 2018 in the three locations of participating organizations: Cleveland, OH; New York, NY; and Dunbar, WV.

37960-Study of Cognitive B
Populations and employment barriers: Adults (age 25+), Parents

Implementation at a glance

Primary service
Soft skills training
Program services
Performance- or behavior-based financial incentives, Soft skills training
Review services terms
Setting(s)
Tested in multiple settings
Year evaluation began
2016
Implementing organization(s)Passages, Inc.; The Fortune Society; Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action, Inc. 

Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain

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Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2024 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable $-182 per year -0.005 733
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase employment Short-term Little evidence to assess support favorable 1% (in percentage points) 0.034 733
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term Cannot assess support
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods Cannot assess support

Effectiveness ratings

  • Well- supported
  • Supported
  • Mixed support
  • Not supported
  • Insufficient evidence
  • Cannot assess support

Studies of this program

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 1
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Program cost

No cost information available.

Cost results

Estimate (in 2024 dollars) Quality of cost analysis that produced the estimate
Total program cost, per participant $1,596
Good quality

Cost information

How much did the program cost per participant?

The average total program cost per participant was $1,596 in 2024 dollars. This figure is based on cost information for this program reported in one cost study reviewed by Pathways to Work (for details, see the FAQ). This study received a rating of Good quality for the cost analysis.

Cost information is not directly comparable across programs due to differences in the categories of costs reported and program length. Cost information is not an official price tag or guarantee.

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Implementation details

The information contained here reflects how the program was implemented at the time of the evaluation.

Local context

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
71%
White, not Hispanic
9%
Another race
5%
Hispanic or Latino of any race
16%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

State(s) where implemented

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Canada

Pathways to Work refers to programs by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some program names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.