Can prisons move people into better jobs? A look at correctional vocational training programs and sectoral employment outcomes

Abstract

Three-quarters of US prisons offer vocational training programs, which aim to place trainees in middle-skills jobs in specific occupational sectors post-release. These middle-skills jobs may more effectively reduce recidivism than the jobs that normally characterize the labor market experience of the formerly incarcerated, yet whether vocational training programs succeed in placing individuals into these “better” jobs is unclear. This paper estimates the impact of vocational training participation on sector-specific job attainment in the first year after release using an instrumental variable design. I find that trainees are more likely to secure employment in their training sectors compared to similarly situated peers. However, employment gains in target sectors are short-lived, challenging the notion that vocational training leads to stable employment in the jobs they target. Notably, however, trainees are more likely to remain employed and experience significant earnings gains later in the year. This suggests that trainees may be leveraging their initial work experience in training sectors to transition into employment journeys in other sectors. For a population facing steep labor market barriers, and given the sobering results of employment-focused reentry programs, this is a meaningful result, as it suggests that prison-based vocational training programs can successfully steer employment trajectories post-release.