Transitional Jobs for Former Prisoners: Who Succeeds in These Programs? Results from a Random Assignment Evaluation of the Center for Employment Opportunities

Cindy Redcross, Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC)
Janine M. Zweig, Urban Institute
Jennifer Yahner, Urban Institute

This paper presents results from a random assignment evaluation of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) in New York City, a highly regarded employment program for former prisoners. In 2004 and 2005, nearly 1,000 individuals were randomly assigned and their employment and recidivism being tracked for three years. Early results show that the program led to large increases in employment in the first year, primarily because of the provision of transitional jobs. Members of the program group also experienced lower rates of recidivism, especially for a subgroup that reported to CEO shortly after release. This paper will present two-year evaluation results.