Program Profile: Wichita (Kansas) Work Release Program

This is a reentry program designed to facilitate selected individuals’ transition from incarceration to community living by providing work opportunities outside of correctional facilities and less structured housing alternatives. The program is rated Promising. Program completers had statistically significantly lower recidivism rates, compared with comparison group members who did not participate in the program, at the 3-year follow-up period.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals

The goal of the Wichita Work Release program is to reduce recidivism by facilitating the transition of selected low-risk individuals from incarceration into community living by providing work opportunities outside of correctional facilities as well as less structured housing alternatives. The program offers a less restrictive institutional structure and the opportunity for former inmates to begin making limited choices through their work experience, which is designed to help them transition back into the community as law-abiding citizens.

Program Components

Participants are placed in jobs outside of the correctional facility, where they can begin developing employment skills and community ties. Participants can earn wages, which can help to pay restitution, court costs, child support, and help to offset costs of incarceration. Part of the Work Release Program is a vocational training component, in which participants can be trained in a variety of fields such as automotive repair, building maintenance, food service, electronics, printing, carpentry, landscaping, barbering, commercial art, janitorial services, plumbing, and dry cleaning.

Target Population

The Department of Corrections operates work release at five prisons across Kansas: four prisons for males and one prison for females. The program’s target population is low-risk inmates who are within 10 months of projected release from prison (or within 12 months of release for special cases).

Study 1

The Kansas Department of Corrections (2009) conducted a quasi-experiential design with a non-equivalent comparison group to examine the effectiveness of the Wichita Work Release Program. 

The program was determined to be “service-based,” in which all could participate if enough program slots were available, and those not participating in the work release program could comprise the comparison group. The study sample included 507 inmates who completed the work release program and 5,596 who could have participated, but did not because not enough slots were available.  

The primary outcome of interest was recidivism, measured as new commitments to prison (including probation violators with or without new sentences) admitted and released between 1995 and 2008. Data on the outcomes at a 3-year follow-up period was collected from the Kansas Department of Corrections records.

There were several limitations to this study. The study did not employ an experimental design and there was minimal information about the similarities between the treatment and comparison groups at baseline. In addition, data for the treatment group only included program completers; it is unclear how program completers compared with program non-completers. There was also a potential for selection bias regarding those who were admitted to the program. To be eligible, participants must have achieved minimum custody and maintained appropriate behavior prior to admission. This could have resulted in differences between those admitted to the program and those not admitted, which would have influenced the results.

Subgroup Analysis

The 2009 evaluation by the Kansas Department of Corrections also looked at completers versus non-completers of the Work Release Program. There were three groups evaluated: completers, non-volitional non-completers, and volitional non-completers. The recidivism rate at the 3-year follow-up period was 30.4 percent for program completers, 34.8 percent for non-volitional non-completers, and 49.7 percent for volitional non-completers. The results showed that, compared with the comparison group who did not participate in the program (who had a recidivism rate of 36.2 percent at the 3-year follow up), non-volitional non-completers had a similar rate of return to prison, and volitional non-completers had a higher rate of return to prison.

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

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

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

Corrections-Based Vocational Training Programs

Vocational training or career technical education programs in prison are designed to teach incarcerated persons about general employment skills or skills needed for specific jobs and industries. The practice is rated Promising in reducing recidivism, and in having a significant impact on participants obtaining employment following release from prison. Their odds were 28 percent higher than those who had not participated in training.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

	Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types
	Employment & Socioeconomic Status - Job placement

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

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

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