Program Profile: Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority Vocational Support and Supervision Program (Israel)

This program provides community supervision and services to individuals released early from prison to help them find employment and reduce their recidivism. The program is rated Effective. Program participants were less likely to be reincarcerated and had higher rates of integration into the workforce, compared with individuals who did not participate in the program. These differences were statistically significant.

An Effective rating implies that implementing the program is likely to result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals

Employment and social support are important factors in an individual’s successful reintegration into the community after release from prison, including their desistance from crime (Gillis and Nafekh 2005; Cherney and Fitzgerald 2016). However, many individuals reentering society after incarceration have difficulty finding and keeping a job owing to many factors, such as lack of training, work experience, and reliable transportation. Additionally, some employers have apprehensions about hiring people who have previously been incarcerated (Shoham and Timor 2014). In Israel, the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority’s Vocational Support and Supervision Program was developed to offer supervision, rehabilitation, and care within the community for individuals released from prison, with emphases on employment, job placement, and support during the time they are on parole. The goal is to improve an individual’s integration into employment and reduce their recidivism.

Program Components/Target Population

Under the Vocational Support and Supervision Program, individuals are released early from prison and are supervised in the community for the remaining one third of their original sentence. Individuals in prison may be eligible if they express interest, motivation, and commitment to the program conditions set by the counselors assigned to them. Admission to the program is conditional on 1) the individual’s physical and mental ability to work, 2) their cooperation with therapeutic agencies in prison, and 3) their being drug free for a period of at least 6 months. Participation is voluntarily, and the reduced prison sentence is dependent on full participation. A tailored therapeutic program for the individual is presented to the parole board for approval. If approved, the individual is conditionally released from prison and subject to the supervision of Israel’s Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, which is required to provide quarterly progress reports to the parole board (Peled–Laskov, Timor, and Gideon 2021).

Every individual under supervision of the program is required to participate in therapy twice a week, with one 50-minute individual therapy session and one 50-minute group session. In the individual therapy session, difficulties faced by the person reentering the community are raised; these may include problems in the workplace, difficulty in accepting authority, coping with the temptation to return to criminality, traumas from the incarceration, or difficulties and pressures in the individual’s family. In group therapy, individuals are placed in a specific group based on the type of crime they have committed (fraud, violence, sex, drugs, etc.). Group therapy sessions allow individuals to discuss problems with others in their same situation, which provides support and helps them cope with their struggles. Group therapy sessions also work to identify individual’s misconceptions and mistaken beliefs, such as those related to work, and try to change them (Efodi 2014).

Program participants are allowed to find employment for themselves upon leaving prison, but they must obtain approval for the jobs from the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority and the police. An individual also may work with the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority to find suitable employment. Regarding supervision, the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority monitors participants’ regular work attendance, checks for problems at work, and offers assistance by conducting visits to the program participant’s workplace. The frequency of these visits varies from one to three times a month and is determined by the individual’s risk level.

Key Personnel

Israel’s Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority is the state authority tasked with preparing programs for the supervision and guidance of individuals on parole (Parole Law 2001). The various therapeutic personnel involved in the Vocational Support and Supervision Program are expected to work together and update one another on the progress of the participants’ therapies. The Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority’s regional inspector oversees the program and all participants, including what happens at work, at home, and in the individual and group therapy (Peled–Laskov, Shoham, and Cojocaru 2019).

Program Theory

The rationale of employment-focused supervision programs to reduce recidivism for individuals on parole is supported by a few theories. One is related to rational choice theory, with the understanding that committing a crime involves rational choices (Clarke and Felson 1993) and rehabilitation offers an economic alternative by allowing the individual to earn an income from legitimate work. Programs that help individuals develop work skills provide them with an opportunity to move away from a life of crime. Additionally, desistance theory describes an individual’s gradual process away from crime (e.g. (Bersani and Doherty 2018; Broidy and Cauffman 2017; LeBel et al. 2008); specifically, secondary desistance involves a change in criminal behavior based on a change in the personal identity of the individual. One of the key components of secondary desistance is the integration of the individual back into employment and “normal” life. Therefore, offering support and employment assistance to individuals who have been released from prison is an important component in their rehabilitation and reduction in future criminal behavior (Peled–Laskov, Shoham, and Cojocaru 2019).

Study 1

Peled?Laskov, Shoham, and Cojocaru (2019) conducted a two-stage quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching to assess the effectiveness of Israel?s Prison Rehabilitation Authority Vocational Support and Supervision program on participants? reincarceration and employment during an 8-year monitoring period.

Data were gathered on 311 individuals from four Israeli cities who had been referred to the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority for parole contingent on supervision and had participated in the program during 2007?10. The comparison group came from a pool of 344 individuals released from prison during the same period after having served their full sentences, and who thus were not required to be part of any rehabilitation or supervision program offered by the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority.

A two-stage approach was used to identify appropriate treatment and comparison groups. First, a comparison was made between the groups on various characteristics such as age, nationality, marital status, number of children, military service, education (number of years), number of incarcerations, duration of incarceration, and the nature of the latest offense. Then, propensity score matching was used to create similar groups for comparison. The propensity score was estimated by a logistic regression model in which the dependent variable was participation in the program and the background characteristics were the predictor variables in the model. The propensity scores were then used to match individuals who had participated in the program (the treatment group) with those who had not and were released from prison after serving their full sentences (the comparison group) with the nearest propensity score (single match approach). After matching, individuals in the treatment group (n = 143) were on average 41 years old, had an average of 10.2 years of education, and 77.6 percent were Jewish. The treatment group had on average 2.76 incarcerations and 19.8 months in prison. For type of offense, individuals in the treatment group had a property offense (30.8 percent), a violent offense (21.6 percent), a drug offense (21 percent), or another offense (26.6 percent). Additionally, 65 percent of the treatment group worked while in prison. Individuals in the comparison group (n = 143) were on average 40.9 years old, had an average of 10.3 years of education, and 76.2 percent were Jewish. The comparison group had on average 2.73 incarcerations and 21.6 months in prison. For offense type, individuals in the comparison group had a property offense (30.8 percent), a drug offense (22.3 percent), a violent offense (18.9 percent), or another offense (28 percent). Additionally, 63.6 percent of the control group worked while in prison. After matching, there were no statistically significant differences between groups on demographic characteristics of interest.

Data on integration into employment and the duration of employment were obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Data on recidivism (reincarceration) were obtained from the computerized system of the Prison Service and referred to released individuals from both the treatment and comparison groups. The recidivism period covered the period between the date of return to prison after full release (for the comparison group) and following completion of the period of supervision (for the treatment group), up to the end of data collection in 2015.

A logistic regression model was run for the probability of integrating into the workforce outcome. A Cox regression analysis was used to examine the probability of survival without reincarceration outcome. Subgroup analysis was conducted to examine the average number of work months for those individuals who had integrated into the workforce.

Subgroup Analysis

Peled–Laskov, Shoham, and Cojocaru (2019) conducted a subgroup analysis examining the average number of months worked for individuals who had integrated into the workforce. Individuals in the treatment group who participated in the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority’s Vocational Support and Supervision Program had a higher average number of work months during a 3-year monitoring period, compared with individuals in the matched comparison group who did not participate in the program and served their full prison sentences. Those in the treatment group who integrated into the workforce had an average employment time of 18.4 months during the 3-year period, while those in the comparison group who integrated into the workforce had an average employment time of 13.8 months during a 3-year period. This difference was statistically significant.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Adult Reentry Programs

This practice involves correctional programs that focus on the transition of individuals from prison into the community. Reentry programs involve treatment or services that have been initiated while the individual is in custody and a follow-up component after the individual is released. The practice is rated Promising for reducing recidivism.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Psychological Treatments for Adults With Histories of Violent Offending

This practice consists of talk-based therapies aimed at reducing violent, aggressive, or antisocial behavior of adults with a history of violent offending. Therapies include cognitive-behavioral therapy, anger management programs, and violence reduction programs. This practice is rated Promising for reducing trait anger and impulsivity and for improving social problem solving, and general social skills. This practice is rated No Effects for reducing antisocial cognitions.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Trait anger
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Impulsivity
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Social problem solving
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - General social skills
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Antisocial cognitions

Rehabilitation Programs for Adults Convicted of a Crime

This practice includes programs that are designed to reduce recidivism among adults by improving their behaviors, skills, mental health, social functioning, and access to education and employment. They may become participants in rehabilitation programs during multiple points in their involvement with the criminal justice system. This practice is rated Promising for reducing recidivism among adults who have been convicted of an offense.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Noncustodial Employment Programs for Individuals with Recent Criminal Records

This practice involves job training and career development for people with a recent criminal record in order to increase employment and reduce recidivism. These programs take place outside of the traditional custodial correctional setting, after they are released. The practice is rated No Effects in reducing criminal behavior for participants in noncustodial employment training programs compared with those who did not participate.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?