The report represents an external evaluation of a three-year project designed to use ex-offenders as paraprofessional parole officer aides in Ohio. The report includes the results of a 1974 national survey of States' use of ex-offenders in parole work as background of the study. The program is described in terms of selection and assignment, duties…

This project reviewed and critiqued educational and employment programs to assist exoffenders' reentry to the community. Chief criticisms include lack of followup studies; lack of relevance to life "outside"; and inaccurate, inconsistent, and unreliable research. (SK)

The issue of radiating impact, particularly in the area of the dissemination of social innovations, is a phenomenon of considerable interest. Several case studies reported in the literature have questioned the ability of model demonstration projects to make a substantial impact on the systems within which they operate. The generalization of a…

In 1996, California provided funding to 14 county probation agencies to implement multiagency, comprehensive services to keep troubled youths from recommitting crime and progressing farther into the justice system. We report results of a randomized experiment used to evaluate Ventura County's 4-year demonstration project called the South Oxnard…

Representing the first nationwide assessment of coeducational correctional institutions, a study was conducted to determine the current state-of-knowledge about corrections, drawing on reviews of the literature, a telephone survey of co-correctional institutions, in-depth site-visits, and iinterviews with practitioners. The data was discussed and…

In response to the need for offenders to be prepared to gain and maintain productive employment, the Offender Research Project was instituted to develop model public service employment positions and projects to ultimately provide educational and social services for offenders and exoffenders in Florida. Four project objectives were stated: to…

Project CONNECT (Inmate Advocacy) was developed to provide counseling to inmates involved in the education programs at Fayette County Prison in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, before and immediately following their release. Twenty-one inmates who had been selected through a screening process received individual basic skills remediation in a classroom…

This report describes a demonstration project conducted by Wider Opportunities for Women in which women who had been found guilty of criminal offenses, child abuse, or child neglect were trained and placed in nontraditional jobs. The project was carried out from mid-summer, 1974, to spring, 1977, in the Washington, D.C., area. The report is…

The Jail to Job program was developed to prepare soon-to-be released inmates of the Erie County Prison to seek employment and/or vocational/educational training. Forty-five inmates were assessed to determine their educational and ability levels, interests, and values. The inmates attended an 8-week (32-hour) course on the following topics:…

Although the disappointing results of earlier ex-offender programs convinced many that "nothing works so let's just keep prisoners incarcerated longer," research in the 1980s and 1990s has shown that intensive pre-release employment training and post-release employment programs and support can cut the rate of recidivism. Current initiatives…

The Alternative Youth Employment Strategies (AYES) Project began as one of the demonstration projects funded under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Project Act in 1980. The program, which features three training models, is targeted toward high-risk, disadvantaged youth, especially minority youths from urban areas who had prior involvement…

A study was conducted to identify and describe programmatic variables contributing to effective, successful, and innovative vocational education programs in Southeastern correctional institutions. Study sites were selected according to how effectively they promoted in-program success and post-release employment. Data was collected through…