Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

Ensure pre-release vocational training corresponds to post-release
employment opportunities, and expand access to vocational
programs by removing barriers and restrictions to participation.
Recommendation
Issue
Job training, prison industries, and placement programs
connect former prisoners to work, thereby reducing their
likelihood of rearrest and reincarceration. In fact, individuals
who have participated in vocational training in prison
have better reentry outcomes. A study conducted by the
Illinois Council on Vocational Education found a recidivism
rate of 13.8 percent for those prisoners who had
earned a vocational degree and a rate of 6.2 percent
for those prisoners who had earned more than one
vocational degree or certificate. 31
In partnership with local community colleges, the Illinois
Department of Corrections (IDOC) offers 50 different
vocational programs within its correctional institutions. 32
Each facility varies slightly in the focus of the vocational
programming it offers due to the community college with
which it collaborates, as well as financial and staffing
resources that are available. Approximately 10,000
prisoners participate annually in IDOC vocational programs
leading to either vocational certificates or degrees. 33
In 2004, however, only 2,062 prisoners completed college
vocational programs and only 203 completed School 428
vocational programs. 34
Many factors hinder greater participation in vocational
training throughout correctional facilities. Enrollment in
an accredited vocational program has historically required
a high school diploma or GED and TABE score of 8.0 or
higher. 35 Only a small percentage of the prison population
meets both of those requirements and is therefore eligible
for vocational education. Further, although 50 different
vocational courses exist throughout IDOC, prisoners
usually have access only to the ones available at their
specific institution—giving prisoners little flexibility to
choose training in an area of interest to them. Similar to
educational programming, much vocational training
exceeds the length of prisoners’ sentences, and prisoners’
frequent transfers between institutions often impede
continuity of training.
There also is a mismatch between the vocational training
opportunities inside prison and good employment opportunities
outside prison. IDOC’s vocational programs
usually correspond to what community colleges near a
given correctional facility are able to provide, rather than
what job opportunities exist in high-demand industries or
in the communities to which prisoners will return.
Through a collaborative effort by the Illinois Governor’s
Office and the Illinois Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity, the Critical Skill Shortages
Initiative (CSSI) was designed to align regional workforce
strategies with economic development to provide qualified
workers for critical skill shortage occupations. Under the
CSSI, the workforce boards of the northeast region of
Illinois found that health care, manufacturing, transportation,
warehousing and logistics were the industry sectors
expected to have the greatest need for workers in the
coming years. 36 However, computer technology, business
management, commercial custodian, construction and
food service were the most commonly offered courses
throughout IDOC facilities. 37
Without linking vocational programs to high-demand
industries, employment outcomes from participating in
and completing such programs can vary significantly. 38
MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY
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