About the Study
In 2015, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractors Mathematica Policy Research and Social Policy Research Associates to conduct the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) Program Evaluation. The evaluation aims to examine program implementation at each of the 20 LEAP pilot locations through site visits at each location, phone interviews, focus groups, and analysis of grantees’ quarterly performance reports.
The LEAP initiative was created in 2015 to help individuals successfully reenter society after incarceration by offering pre- and post-release services. The program awarded $10 million in grant funding to 20 local workforce development boards and created jail-based American Job Centers (AJCs) with direct linkages to community-based AJCs. The overarching goals were to increase participants’ work readiness at the time of release, increase employment after release, and reduce recidivism. Additional goals for the pilot initiative included demonstrating that corrections and workforce agencies could effectively collaborate to provide pre-release services, and generating lessons learned around promising strategies and common challenges that could inform future efforts.
This Department of Labor-funded study was a result of the annual process to determine the Department’s research priorities for the upcoming year. It contributes to the labor evidence-base to inform employment and training programs and policies and addresses Departmental strategic goals and priorities.
- Developing American Job Centers in Jails: Implementation of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) Grants (Executive Summary, October 2018)
- Developing American Job Centers in Jails: Implementation of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) Grants (Final Report, October 2018)
- Delivering Workforce Services to Justice-Involved Job Seekers Before and After Release (Issue Brief Compendium, October 2018)
- Providing Services in a Jail-based American Job Center (Issue Brief, May 2018)
- “An Opportunity for a Reset”: The Experiences of Jail-Based American Job Center Customers Before and After Release (Issue Brief, May 2018)
- Case Management Models for Pre- and Post-Release Employment Services (Issue Brief, May 2018)
- Data Management for Pre- and Post-Release Workforce Services (Issue Brief, May 2018)
- Engaging Participants in Workforce Services after Release from Jail (Issue Brief, May 2018)
- Bridging Workforce Development and Corrections Cultures: Issue Brief—Early Lessons from LEAP (Issue Brief, November 2016)
- Internet Access for Pre-Release Job Search Training: Issue Brief—Early Lessons from LEAP (Issue Brief, November 2016)
- Structuring Employment-Based Services Within Jail Spaces and Schedules: Issue Brief—Early Lessons from LEAP (Issue Brief, November 2016)
- Staffing Jail-Based American Job Centers: Issue Brief—Early Lessons from LEAP (Issue Brief, November 2016)
- Expediting the Launch of Service Provision: Issue Brief—Early Lessons from LEAP (Issue Brief, November 2016)
- Examine approaches to providing services before and after incarceration at all 20 LEAP pilot sites.
- Understand the relationships and viability of collaboration between workforce and corrections agencies to provide pre-release services and generate lessons learned around strategies and common challenges for future efforts.
- This evaluation demonstrated the feasibility of the LEAP program and noted that 11 of the 20 sites planned to maintain jail-based AJCs after the end of the grant.
- Close collaboration and early communication between workforce and jail administrators were crucial for successful implementation, including establishing the jail-based AJCs, recruiting participants, delivering pre-release services, and planning for participants’ transition as they approached release.
- Fourteen of the 20 jail sites in this evaluation successfully collaborated with AJCs to ensure limited internet access for pre-release services, and all 20 sites were able to establish jail-based AJC spaces.
- LEAP pilot sites had enrolled 3,805 individuals as of March 2018, exceeding their enrollment target for pre-release participants despite challenges identifying eligible participants due to large unsentenced populations and limited access to corrections data.
- The evaluation finds that jail-based AJC staff emphasized the need for flexibility to adapt to changing jail conditions, which resulted from unexpected releases of participants, security risks, and absences.
- Of those LEAP participants who had been released for at least one year, 20% were rearrested for a new crime or reincarcerated for parole/probation violations within one year of release.
Executive Summary
Bellotti, J., Sattar, S., Gould-Werth, A., Berk, J., Gutierrez, I., Stein, J., Betesh, H., Ochoa, L., Wiegand, A. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. Developing American Job Centers in Jails: Implementation of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) Grants [Executive Summary]. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Final Report
Bellotti, J., Sattar, S., Gould-Werth, A., Berk, J., Gutierrez, I., Stein, J., Betesh, H., Ochoa, L., Wiegand, A. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. Developing American Job Centers in Jails: Implementation of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) Grants. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Issue Brief Compendium
Gould-Werth, A., Sattar, S., Henderson-Frakes, J., Betesh, H., Clark, M., Gutierrez, I., Lewis-Charp, H., Paprocki, A., Stein, J., Wiegand, A., Bellotti, J. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. LEAP Issue Brief Compendium: Delivering workforce services to justice-involved job seekers before and after release. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Issue Briefs
Henderson-Frakes, J. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. Providing Services in a Jail-Based American Job Center. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Gould-Werth, A. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. “An Opportunity for a Reset”: The Experiences of Jail-Based American Job Center Customers Before and After Release. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Gutierrez, I. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. Case Management Models for Pre- and Post-Release Employment Services. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Stein, J. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. Data Management for Pre- and Post-Release Workforce Services. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Sattar, S. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. Engaging Participants in Workforce Services after Release from Jail. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Lewis-Charp, H. (2016). Mathematica Policy Research. Bridging Workforce Development and Corrections Cultures. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Betesh, H. (2016). Mathematica Policy Research. Internet Access for Pre-Release Job Search Training. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Henderson-Frakes, J. (2016). Mathematica Policy Research. Structuring Employment-Based Services Within Jail Spaces and Schedules. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Clark, M. (2016). Mathematica Policy Research. Staffing Jail-Based American Job Centers. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Paprocki, A. (2016). Mathematica Policy Research. Expediting the Launch of Service Provision. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.