28: Job Development and Supportive Employment
Recognize and address the obstacles that make it difficult for an ex-offender to obtain and retain viable employment while under community supervision.
Overview
Research Highlights
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People with criminal convictions face substantial legal and logistical barriers in obtaining a job.
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Most individuals are released from prison or jail without a job or transitional work placement.
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Even when former prisoners do secure employment, job retention over the medium to long term is a challenge.
Recommendations
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Update community corrections policy so that it encourages, rather than discourages, employing people on probation or parole.
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Assist, to the extent appropriate, people with criminal records seeking to surmount legal and logistical obstacles to employment.
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Promote supportive transitional employment programs through community corrections.
Related Policy Statements
Our Publications
Public Housing Authorities and Prisoner Re-Entry
A growing number of people are released each year from state prison and local jails; this phenomenon, prisoner reentry, has a significant impact on housing programs administered by PHAs, including public housing, the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), and other programs.
Related Information
Issue Area:
Sex Offenders
Issue Area:
Education and Employment
Program Example:
California: Ex-Felon Employment Initiative
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and National Economic Development and Law Center

