Supporting Community Reintegration
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The problem: People released from incarceration face a high risk of recidivism, especially if they have inadequate access to jobs, housing, and other resources needed to function in the community.
Effective Reentry Approaches: RAND rigorously evaluates employment, education, and post-conviction relief strategies by drawing insights from employers, service providers, and people with lived experience, to expand opportunities that help people return to their communities.
- Employment pathways: Workforce programming for probation youth in Los Angeles County and federal reentry initiatives show that employment and coordinated support are crucial to reducing recidivism. However, limited referrals, competing priorities, and insufficient data tracking persist as barriers to success. Integrated wraparound services like Project imPACT and targeted sectoral training programs improve employment, housing stability, and justice outcomes for people returning from incarceration.
- Hiring barriers: Although more than 25 percent of workers have a prior conviction, most employers do not understand that 75 percent of people with a first conviction are not convicted again within ten years. Modest financial incentives, such as tax credits and insurance, significantly increased employers’ willingness to hire individuals with criminal records. Certificates of rehabilitation further improved employer perceptions.
- Supportive housing: The Supportive Housing Program of Los Angeles diverts individuals with serious mental health needs from jail into permanent supportive housing using a “care first, jails last” approach, though challenges remain in integrating mental health and substance use treatment. The Just in Reach Pay for Success initiative demonstrated that permanent supportive housing reduces jail use and increases housing stability for people with chronic health conditions. Program costs are largely offset by savings in other service areas.
- Legal system reform and postconviction relief: California’s Public Defense and County Resentencing Pilot Programs expanded access to postconviction relief and prosecutor-initiated resentencing, enabling thousands to receive legal counsel and hundreds to be released from prison. DA–PD collaboration and dedicated resources increased the chances of successful release, but both programs faced challenges with sustainability, coverage, complex eligibility, and staffing shortages.