WASHINGTON — Government officials said a pilot prisoner-entry program that partners government and faith-based groups may have helped reduce the percentage of former prisoners who returned behind bars.
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced the results of a Ready4Work project at a March 22 meeting hosted by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
It showed recidivism rates for program participants were 45 percent lower than the national rate after six months and 30 percent lower than the national reincarceration rate a year after release. A total of 4,482 former prisoners were involved in the three-year program.
Analysis of the program found that 2.75 percent returned to state prisons within six months of release and 7.28 percent was reincarcerated a year after release. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the national average recidivism rate was 5 percent after six months and 10.4 percent after a year.
The Ready4Work program, which the faith-based office launched in 2003, involved providing services such as mentoring and job training to former prisoners in 11 cities. The $25 million program was funded by the Departments of Labor and Justice, private foundations and Public/Private Ventures, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization.
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