Study Details | Pathways to Work

7130-Milwaukee Safe Stree

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a high-attrition randomized controlled trial that does not demonstrate that the intervention and comparison groups were sufficiently similar before the intervention.

Intervention: Milwaukee Safe Street Prisoner Release Initiative (PRI)

Population and employment barriers:

Sex (Male), Specific employment barriers (Former incarceration)

Services provided:

Case management, Education, Health services (Substance use disorder treatment and mental health services), Soft skills training, Supportive services, Training (Occupational or sectoral training), Work and work-based learning (Subsidized employment, Work experience), Work readiness activities (Job search assistance)

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

Current prisoners were recruited for the study by Wisconsin Department of Corrections staff from January 2009 to August 2009. Individuals were considered eligible to participate in the study if they were male; were age 35 or younger; were scheduled for release to Milwaukee, WI, with at least six months of community supervision; and had a history of violence or gang involvement. Sex offenders were not eligible. Study participants were recruited on a rolling basis. After providing consent to participate in the study, individuals were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 90) or comparison group (n = 146). Because of low rates of eligibility among prisoners, 16 individuals in the comparison group were selected at random and reassigned to the intervention group.

Time period of study:

The study began in January 2009 and ended in December 2011. The intervention was examined for 12 months from the time of prison release.

Pathways only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Mean age

28 years

Sex

Male

100%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	85%
White	13%
White, not Hispanic	13%

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.

Family status

Married

Participant education

Did not have a high school diploma or GED

35%

Specific employment barriers

Were involved with the justice system	100%
Were formerly incarcerated	100%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Wisconsin Department of Corrections and Wisconsin Community Services.

Intervention services:

The intervention offered services to justice-involved adults before and after release from prison. Six months before scheduled release, individuals were transferred to one of two facilities in Racine, WI (the Racine Correctional Institute or the Sturtevant Transitional Facility). In these facilities, individuals met regularly with a social worker who provided a case-management workup (including an assessment of needs; risk; child support; credit; and personal documentation issues, such as lack of a driver's license or Social Security number). In the six months before release, individuals were also offered a vocational-skills assessment, access to soft-skills training and vocational training, and an opportunity to participate in restorative justice circles. These circles consisted of a meeting with law enforcement officials, police, and community prosecutors, followed by a meeting with victims, who had a chance to discuss the suffering caused by the crime. In addition, intervention group members were expected to participate in the Breaking Barriers cognitive-reality curriculum (a life-skills and behavioral/cognitive-change program designed to increase self-efficacy, goal achievement, and personal accountability). Thirty days before release, individuals met with a coordinated-care team (including a social worker and a job coach, among others) to ensure they had suitable plans for housing, transportation, documentation, and job search. Individuals were also offered alcohol and drug treatment and remedial education services, and guaranteed access to reach-in services from the Community Corrections Employment Program, including assistance with finding jobs, work experience, training, and education vouchers, and subsidies to and help with bonding for employers for hiring parolees.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

Individuals in the comparison group were neither barred from receiving intervention group services nor guaranteed to receive these services. In practice, some comparison group members accessed some intervention group services, but rates of uptake were low and sometimes zero.

Study publications

Cook, Philip J., Songman Kang, Anthony A. Braga, Jens Ludwig, and Mallory E. O'Brien (2015). An experimental evaluation of a comprehensive employment-oriented prisoner re-entry program, Journal of Quantitative Criminology 31(3): 355-382. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284942331_An_Experimental_Evaluation_of_a_Comprehensive_Employment-Oriented_Prisoner_Re-entry_Program.

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

Study of Milwaukee Safe Street Prisoner Release Initiative (PRI)