Publications
CEO programs shown to reduce reincarceration by 50% and new crime by 90%
Early results from an independent random assignment evaluation* show that CEO’s programs lead to significant reductions in felony convictions and returns to prison among CEO participants, compared to the control group. The study’s findings strongly support the notion that the timing of work after release may be a key factor in its effect on recidivism. The study analyzed the outcomes of study members separately based on when they were released from prison: people who entered the study three months or less from release—the “recently released group”—and those who entered more than three months after release. After one year, the study found that for the recently released group those assigned to CEO had substantially lower rates of felony convictions, parole revocations, incarceration for new crimes, and overall incarceration than control group members. Less than 10 percent of CEO participants were reincarcerated for any reason – 50 percent less than the control group. Moreover, less than one percent of CEO participants were reincarcerated for a new crime – 90 percent less than the control group. The evaluation notes that impacts of this size in a random assignment criminal justice study are “rare.”
The preliminary findings from the study of CEO show that immediate employment during the re-entry process has a significant impact on public safety. However, the study confirms that more needs to be done after the re-entry period to boost wages and meet the long-term employment needs of formerly incarcerated people.
* CEO is one of four organizations studied as part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ study, which is being conducted by the research organization, MDRC, and is funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The preliminary results cover one year after random assignment.
Read the CEO Release
Learning Institute Report, October 2007
CEO's Young Adult Program: Engaging Formerly Incarcerated Young People in the Workforce.
By Alana Gunn and Julie Peterson. October 2007, 9 pages.
The report introduces CEO's Young Adult Program in the context of the nationwide crisis of disconnected youth - young people neither in work or school. CEO's Young Adult Program addresses this issue by engaging 18-25 year olds coming home from prison or jail with a specialized version of CEO's comprehensive work program. The program, like CEO's regular programming, offers immediate, paid transitional work concurrently with placement into permanent employment, but offers extra support and coaching, and helps young people with little work experience and less maturity ease in to the workplace. The Learning Institute, through a series of qualitative and quantitative analyses, found that Young Adult Program participants worked more days of transitional work, and were placed in permanent jobs at a higher rate than young adults of the same age at CEO who were not part of the program.
Read the full report
Learning Institute Report, August 2007
CEO's Rapid Rewards Program: Using Incentives to Promote Employment Retention for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals.
By Jennifer L. Bryan, Alana Gunn and Stephanie Henthorn. August 2007, 11 pages.
CEO began an employment incentive program called Rapid Rewards in 2004. As participants are placed in jobs, they can bring their paystubs to CEO each month for up to a year and receive incentives of public transportation fare cards, supermarket vouchers and, at the end of the year, a check. The total value of the rewards is $615 per year.
In 2006-2007, the CEO Learning Institute evaluated the Rapid Rewards program using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. This paper presents its findings for a general audience. In sum, the Learning Institute found that participation in the Rapid Rewards program predicted continued employment at 90, 180 and 365 days after job placement. There are two possible explanations for the effect-that the rewards themselves entice people to stay employed, or that the rewards enable an organization to better track people so that it can report more instances of employment retention at various milestones. Both argue for the benefits of a retention incentive system.
Read the full report
Early results from an independent random assignment evaluation* show that CEO’s programs lead to significant reductions in felony convictions and returns to prison among CEO participants, compared to the control group. The study’s findings strongly support the notion that the timing of work after release may be a key factor in its effect on recidivism. The study analyzed the outcomes of study members separately based on when they were released from prison: people who entered the study three months or less from release—the “recently released group”—and those who entered more than three months after release. After one year, the study found that for the recently released group those assigned to CEO had substantially lower rates of felony convictions, parole revocations, incarceration for new crimes, and overall incarceration than control group members. Less than 10 percent of CEO participants were reincarcerated for any reason – 50 percent less than the control group. Moreover, less than one percent of CEO participants were reincarcerated for a new crime – 90 percent less than the control group. The evaluation notes that impacts of this size in a random assignment criminal justice study are “rare.”
The preliminary findings from the study of CEO show that immediate employment during the re-entry process has a significant impact on public safety. However, the study confirms that more needs to be done after the re-entry period to boost wages and meet the long-term employment needs of formerly incarcerated people.
* CEO is one of four organizations studied as part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ study, which is being conducted by the research organization, MDRC, and is funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The preliminary results cover one year after random assignment.
Read the CEO Release
Learning Institute Report, October 2007
CEO's Young Adult Program: Engaging Formerly Incarcerated Young People in the Workforce.
By Alana Gunn and Julie Peterson. October 2007, 9 pages.
The report introduces CEO's Young Adult Program in the context of the nationwide crisis of disconnected youth - young people neither in work or school. CEO's Young Adult Program addresses this issue by engaging 18-25 year olds coming home from prison or jail with a specialized version of CEO's comprehensive work program. The program, like CEO's regular programming, offers immediate, paid transitional work concurrently with placement into permanent employment, but offers extra support and coaching, and helps young people with little work experience and less maturity ease in to the workplace. The Learning Institute, through a series of qualitative and quantitative analyses, found that Young Adult Program participants worked more days of transitional work, and were placed in permanent jobs at a higher rate than young adults of the same age at CEO who were not part of the program.
Read the full report
Learning Institute Report, August 2007
CEO's Rapid Rewards Program: Using Incentives to Promote Employment Retention for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals.
By Jennifer L. Bryan, Alana Gunn and Stephanie Henthorn. August 2007, 11 pages.
CEO began an employment incentive program called Rapid Rewards in 2004. As participants are placed in jobs, they can bring their paystubs to CEO each month for up to a year and receive incentives of public transportation fare cards, supermarket vouchers and, at the end of the year, a check. The total value of the rewards is $615 per year.
In 2006-2007, the CEO Learning Institute evaluated the Rapid Rewards program using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. This paper presents its findings for a general audience. In sum, the Learning Institute found that participation in the Rapid Rewards program predicted continued employment at 90, 180 and 365 days after job placement. There are two possible explanations for the effect-that the rewards themselves entice people to stay employed, or that the rewards enable an organization to better track people so that it can report more instances of employment retention at various milestones. Both argue for the benefits of a retention incentive system.
Read the full report
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