Work Release in the State of Washington, 1990-1993

Work release programs allow selected prisoners nearing the
 end of their terms to work in the community, returning to correctional
 facilities or community residential facilities in nonworking
 hours. This project was designed as both a randomized and
 quasi-experimental field study to assess the effectiveness of work
 release in the Seattle area. It evaluated the impact of work release
 sentencing on recidivism and on corrections costs by comparing a
 sample of inmates who participated in work release with a comparable
 sample of inmates who completed their sentences in prison. The study
 was designed to answer the following questions: (1) What are the
 background and offense characteristics of offenders assigned to work
 release in the Seattle area? (2) What types of services are received
 by offenders in work release? and (3) How does the community
 experience of work release participants compare to that of similar
 offenders discharged directly into the Seattle community without
 having gone through work release? For each offender, detailed
 information was collected on measures relating to work release
 participation and recidivism outcomes. Information was gathered from
 Department of Corrections institutional files, work release program
 records, computerized payment information for legal and financial
 obligations, and statewide criminal history records. For each
 offender, background and six- and twelve-month reviews were completed.
 Part 1, Background Data, supplies variables that cover inmate
 demographics, employment history, drug use, current offense, prior
 criminal history, and risk/needs items. Part 2, Drug Testing Data,
 lists the types of drugs tested for, types of drugs for which there
 were positive results, and sanctions for drug use. Part 3, Offender
 Status Data, provides information on inmates' supervision status and
 the types of programs they participated in. Part 4, Prison Data,
 includes the number of days spent at different institutions and
 prerelease centers, work assignment, and prison infractions. Part 5,
 Work Release Data, contains information on the number of days spent at
 different work release facilities and any time spent in jail or on
 escape status while in work release. Data in this file also cover
 contacts and services received during work release, including personal
 and phone contacts between the work release participant and community
 corrections officer at the job and other sites, monitoring checks
 (employment verification, criminal records checks), sessions in
 outpatient counseling (drug, alcohol, family, other), employment
 (number of attempted and completed job interviews, primary job
 classification, length of employment, wages, and reason left), drug
 testing (date and type of test, type of positives, sanction imposed),
 infractions during work release and their sanctions, and arrests and
 their sanctions. Part 6, Community Placement Data, provides variables
 on the number of days each month that the offender was on the street,
 in work release, in pretrial detention, or in other custody, while
 Part 7, Post-Release Data, focuses on the number of days each month
 that the offender was on the street, in pretrial detention, or in
 prison or jail after being released from the work release
 program. Variables in Part 8, Infractions Data, pertain to the number
 and types of infractions and associated sanctions. Part 9, Recidivism
 Data, provides information on each offense after discharge from the
 program, including the date of the offense, nature of arrest,
disposition, and sentence.