WRRR seeks to assist participants to become ‘work ready’ and to gain employment following release from custody. The program is delivered in three phases. The Work Ready and Release Ready phases both occur while an individual is in prison, while the Employment phase involves up to 18 months of post-release support. The support is available to participants regardless of whether they are subject to any post-release supervision or order.

All phases involve personal support from a Workskil mentor, with whom participants can develop a trusting relationship. The first two phases focus on developing employment goals and a plan to meet educational and vocational needs as well as relevant prison work experience, where available. The final, community-based phase features tailored and highly flexible mentoring and support, ranging from vocational training, education, interview and job-search skills training to assistance with issues such as housing, parenting and mental health. Overall, WRRR participants that engaged in the post-release ‘Employment’ phase of the program demonstrated a lower 2-year rate of return to DCS custody for new charges and a higher employment rate than a comparative sample. When factoring in benefits to both participants and the broader community, WRRR generated a positive benefit-cost ratio of 2.76.

Work Ready, Release Ready: Supporting the Desistance Journey From Prison to Employment (PID176)

Speakers

Michael Dent

Shannen Middleton