Work-release programs
Work-release programs are alternatives to incarceration that allow individuals to engage in community employment while serving their sentences. These programs can be utilized during pretrial releases, sentencing, or as rewards for good behavior among incarcerated individuals. Participants must adhere to specific conditions, spending nights or weekends in designated facilities but are permitted to leave during the day to work, thereby maintaining essential job skills and employment continuity. Established in the U.S. in the early 20th century, such programs have evolved to include both misdemeanor and felony offenders, with similar working conditions to those of civilian workers.
Participants are typically responsible for their own transportation and receive civilian-level pay, though portions of their income may be deducted for room and board, transportation, restitution, or victim compensation, with the remainder deposited into savings accounts. The benefits of work-release programs include reduced recidivism rates and improved reintegration into society, as they offer individuals a chance to develop job skills and build self-esteem while fostering normal societal interactions. Additionally, these programs can serve as a management tool within correctional facilities, helping to alleviate overcrowding by incentivizing good behavior.
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Work-release programs
SIGNIFICANCE: Work release is an alternative to incarceration that is expected to be used more widely in the future because of its proven benefits.
Work-release programs serve a variety of needs. They may be used as a form of pretrial release, as an option during sentencing, or as privileges awarded to incarcerated inmates with exemplary records. Accused offenders who are authorized for the programs during their pretrial release are allowed to maintain their existing jobs but must spend their nights or weekends, or both, in work-release facilities or jails. The same conditions also apply to convicted offenders who are sentenced to work release instead of prison. In addition, work release may be given as a privilege to inmates of prisons, jails, and halfway houses. In all cases, inmates in the programs are allowed to leave the facilities in which they are housed to work in the community.
Work release has been used in the United States since 1913, when Wisconsin became the first state to allow those convicted of misdemeanors to continue working at their jobs while serving short jail sentences. In 1957, North Carolina became the first state to permit those convicted of a felony to leave prison during the day to work in the community. The Federal Prisoner Rehabilitation Act, passed by the US Congress in 1965, allowed work release for prisoners of federal institutions.
Regardless of whether work release is given at the state or federal level, the working conditions of accused and convicted offenders are similar to those experienced by civilians. Job requirements are identical, and work supervision is by civilians. Moreover, like any free citizens, participants in work-release programs are usually responsible for their own transportation to and from work.
Those on work release are paid as civilians and typically receive their salaries directly from their employers. However, they usually have to turn their paychecks over to corrections officials, who extract portions of the money to reimburse the facilities for room and board. Some of the income may also be deducted to cover costs of transportation and other incidental expenses. Further deductions may also be made to pay for restitution or victim compensation. After the deductions are made, the balance of the money is deposited into the inmates' savings accounts.
Released inmates may benefit from having supervised savings accounts. Some also benefit by avoiding the risk of losing their current jobs. Those who have not worked for some time may benefit from learning new job skills and raising their self-esteem. In addition, participants in work-release programs are less adversely affected by confinement than other inmates because they can enjoy more normal societal interactions that facilitate their reintegration into the community, and their recidivism is usually reduced. Work release may also be used as an inmate-management tool. Because participation in work release is highly desired but not guaranteed, corrections administrators may use it to reward good behavior of inmates. It can also help reduce prison overcrowding.
Bibliography
"About Reentry Centers." Department of Corrections Washington State, 2024, www.doc.wa.gov/corrections/incarceration/reentry-center/default.htm. Accessed 11 July 2024.
Bales, W. D., et al. "An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Prison Work Release Programs on Post-Release Recidivism and Employment." Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research, October 2019, clear.dol.gov/study/assessment-effectiveness-prison-work-release-programs-post-release-recidivism-and-employment. Accessed 11 July 2024.
"Grants Totaling $30M to Help Adults in Prison Work-Release Programs Transition to the Workforce Now Available from US Labor Department." United States Department of Labor. Dept. of Labor, 18 Feb. 2014, www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20140218. Accessed 11 July 2024.
McCarthy, Belinda Rodgers, Bernard J. McCarthy, and Matthew C. Leone. Community-Based Corrections. 5th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing, 2022.
Turner, Susan, and Joan Petersilia. Work Release: Recidivism and Corrections Cost in Washington State. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, 1996.
Wees, Greg. “Work and Educational Release, 1996.” Corrections Compendium (May, 1997): 8-23.