Improving Employment Outcomes for Returning Citizens in Illinois

The Challenge: Individuals returning from a period of incarceration with the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) face major challenges finding gainful employment in the formal economy. More than 60% of returning citizens report no employment within two years of release and 93% live below the federal poverty line. Poor employment outcomes for returning citizens contribute to Illinois’ relatively high rate of recidivism (44%) and perpetuate a cycle of poverty and re-incarceration. To address the employment challenge for returning citizens, IDOC provides a suite of career and technical education (CTE) courses to up to 9% of the prison population. However, sustained poor employment outcomes amongst returning citizens signaled challenges with both the accessibility and quality of the CTE courses offered. 

The thirteen available CTE courses provide training in a range of areas, from relatively low-skill occupations such as custodial maintenance to higher-skill jobs such as automotive technicians. While the courses are IDOC’s principle method for addressing the employment needs of returning citizens, the department had collected relatively little operational information on how these courses performed. There was a lack of clarity on whether or not individuals were being effectively matched to the right courses, which courses would be the most beneficial to offer given market-demand, and how course completers performed in the job market. In addition, the department had an unanswered question around who was responsible for improving employment outcomes. Although IDOC sought to improve employment outcomes through pre-release job training programs and other programs to address educational and criminogenic need, no designated person within IDOC had responsibility for ensuring that returning citizens who received trainings received any type of targeted employment support. As a result, IDOC knew it wasn’t making the best use of its employment-focused resources. 

The Project: With support from the GPL, IDOC reviewed effective in-facility career and technical education programs across the country. Through interviews with corrections departments in 14 states and conversations with almost 40 staff members, project partners identified best practices, discrete activities, and innovations that other jurisdictions have used to improve the employment outcomes of returning citizens. 

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