This Mathematica report follows a 36-month evaluation of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) grants, which the U.S. Department of Labor awarded to 20 local workforce development boards. The grants were made to test methods of establishing jail-based American Job Centers (AJCs) to support incarcerated persons with employment services for successful reintegration. The report provides a descriptive implementation analysis of the strategies that the grantees identified as well as design challenges in this environment.

This MDRC research-to-practice brief profiles the PACE Center for Girls, a Florida-based nonprofit organization serving school-aged girls at risk of involvement with the justice system. This brief identifies the uniqueness of PACE’s gender-responsive approaches that are tailored to meet the specific challenges of middle and high school-aged girls at risk. The PACE evaluation suggests ways that researchers can collaborate with practitioners in producing actionable social-sector evidence and translating evidence into practice to improve interventions.

This issue brief from the Council of State Governments’ National Reentry Resource Center is a self-assessment tool with which programs can assess their delivery of integrated reentry and employment interventions for citizens returning from incarceration. This tool focuses on helping reentry practitioners improve the capacity of their programming and services to reduce the likelihood of their clients’ return to incarceration and to increase long-term job retention.

This MDRC article highlights promising practices for interagency coordination between the criminal justice and child support enforcement systems. It identifies types of collaboration between these programs, suggests how to target program populations, and addresses institutional constraints that hinder implementation of reforms between the two systems. For additional information on reentry, OFA hosted a webinar entitled “Providing Effective Employment and Supportive Services to Low-Income Women with Criminal Records,” which can be found here.

This National Institute of Justice report identifies how the standard functional family therapy (FFT) manual was tailored to address issues common to the gang population. Prior to this study, there had been a lack of any in-depth evaluations of therapeutic programs targeting an urban and mostly minority population at high risk of or currently involved in gangs. The study “was intended to provide a rigorous test of FFT under contemporary natural conditions, with an urban, predominantly minority population selected for its high risk of gang involvement.”

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) webinar on February 6, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET will discuss fatherhood programs that support returning fathers and their families with the multiple challenges they face following incarceration. Presenters include a researcher, practitioners, and two program participants.

This MDRC evaluation report assesses a Transitional Living Program that targets youth in foster care or involved with the juvenile justice system. Youth Villages, a social service organization, created YVLife Set to provide individualized and intensive clinically focused case management, support, and counseling to help secure positive outcomes for young participants as they move to adulthood.

This Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation report is the result of a literature review, a listening session, and individual conversations with stakeholders about the growing need for healthcare workers and the unnecessary hiring restrictions against people with criminal backgrounds. There are five things to consider in this area: some individuals with criminal records are qualified to satisfy the growing healthcare demand; effective screening methods are already being used throughout the country; certain occupations like Emergency Medical Technicians have already been filled by the previously incarcerated; federal and state governments and communities are trying to lower unnecessary barriers to entry into the healthcare sector; and those with criminal records can strengthen the healthcare workforce if properly screened. Examples of programs, state initiatives, and screening criteria are listed in the report to inform future policies and practices.

An MDRC infographic provides initial findings of the Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative, which targets youth ages 15-25 who have been involved in the child welfare and justice systems, or who are homeless. The infographic identifies components of two established national programs – Jobs for America’s Graduates and the Jobs for the Future Back on Track – and the LEAP enhancements for case management and training that are offered locally to support youth in employment and postsecondary educational opportunities.