Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

Restructure and expand Illinois Correctional Industries.
Recommendation
Issue
Work programs administered in prison provide prisoners
with experience and skills that increase their employability
upon release. Illinois Correctional Industries (ICI) does
just that, operating “factories with fences,” farms and
service programs in many of the adult prisons. ICI currently
operates 38 such programs in 19 different correctional
facilities throughout the state. 43 The goods and services
produced through ICI include wood furniture, food
products, city and highway signs, clothing, maintenance
supplies, bedding, eyeglasses, asbestos abatement and
service dog training.
Historically, prisoners who work in ICI programs have
lower recidivism rates than the general prison population.
According to ICI’s 1998 Annual Report, 235 individuals
who had participated in ICI programs were released in
INSPIRATION FROM THE FIELD:
PRISON REHABILITATIVE
INDUSTRIES AND DIVERSIFIED
ENTERPRISES IN FLORIDA
Prison Rehabilitative Industries and
Diversified Enterprises, Inc. (PRIDE) is a
private, not-for-profit manufacturing and
services corporation. In 1981, the Florida
legislature authorized the company to manage
and operate the state’s correctional industries.
PRIDE provides prisoners with vocational and
on-the-job training in a variety of fields as well
as limited post-release support.
Studies indicate that PRIDE placed 88 percent
of its workers in relevant jobs in 2001
and, during this same year, only 17.3 percent of
its former workers returned to prison. In
2004, PRIDE generated $65.7 million in sales of
prisoner-made products and services. PRIDE
pays a portion of its earnings to defray the cost
of incarceration, cover restitution to crime
victims, and provide post-release job placement
services to prisoners.
Source: www.oppaga.state.fl.us/profiles.
fiscal year 1993, and only 36 percent returned to prison
during the subsequent five years. 44 Illinois’ recidivism rate
for that same five-year period was approximately 50 percent.
45
However, few prisoners are able to take advantage of this
employment opportunity. In 2003, only 1,078 prisoners
participated in ICI jobs throughout Illinois Department of
Corrections (IDOC) facilities. 46
Several factors may explain this low participation rate.
First, to obtain an ICI placement, prisoners must have a
GED; this is an education level many prisoners have not
achieved. Second, the work experience and skills that are
gained from these jobs may be somewhat limited. These
businesses produce goods and provide services used
primarily by local and state government agencies and
IDOC. Accordingly, many of these jobs are not directly
relevant to employment opportunities outside of prison.
Third, due to loss of staff during recent years, capacity
within ICI to expand job offerings is lacking.
Solution
ICI is a self-supporting business; that is, it does not receive
any state appropriation, but rather generates revenue from
the sale of goods and services. Therefore, expanding ICI
offers a relatively low-cost way to increase opportunities
for prisoners to develop good work habits and trade skills
during their incarceration, and likely increase their workforce
participation after release. IDOC should strive to
increase the number of jobs available through ICI, and
double the percentage of prisoners who have access to
these jobs by 2010. To that end, IDOC should consider
reevaluating the eligibility criteria to obtain an ICI job.
In expanding ICI, however, it is critical to assess the
applicability of ICI jobs to employment opportunities outside
of prison. ICI jobs should expose prisoners to work
experience and skills training for long-term employment
with upward mobility. Given the success of ICI jobs in
reducing recidivism, ICI should collaborate with large
employers, business associations, unions and job
placement agencies to develop correctional industry jobs
applicable to and correlated with employment in
high-demand industries.
MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY
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