Title: Texas' Project RIO (Re-Integration of Offenders).
Series: Program Focus
Author: Peter Finn
Published: June 1998
Subject: Inmate programs
31 pages
73,000 bytes

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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice

Program Focus

Texas' Project RIO (Re-Integration of Offenders)

by Peter Finn

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NIJ-NIC-OCE Collaborate on Offender Education and Training Programs

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the National Institute of
Corrections (NIC), and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of
Correctional Education (OCE) have cooperated on a number of projects.
These continuing efforts are described below. 

This Program Focus, Texas' Project RIO (Re-Integration of Offenders), is
one in a series of publications sponsored by NIJ, NIC, and OCE that focus
on various approaches to offender job training, placement, and retention.

More than 3 years ago, in response to a call from policymakers and
corrections professionals, the three agencies embarked upon a
collaborative effort to document these approaches. As "vendors" of the
information developed, the agencies have been overwhelmed by the
"consumer" demand for descriptive program information and by requests
for training and technical assistance in these areas.

NIJ, a component of the Office of Justice Programs, is the research and
development arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. NIJ is authorized to
support research, evaluation, demonstration programs, and technology
development. NIJ has greatly expanded its initiatives--largely as a result of
the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (the Crime
Act)--and its partnerships with other Federal agencies and private
foundations. Often with partners, the Institute sponsors special projects
and research and development programs designed to improve and
strengthen the criminal justice system and reduce or prevent crime;
conducts national demonstration projects employing innovative and
promising approaches for improving criminal justice; develops new
technologies for use by criminal justice practitioners; evaluates the
effectiveness of criminal justice programs; identifies programs that
promise to be successful if continued or repeated; and indicates actions
that can be taken by Federal, State, and local governments as well as by
private organizations to improve criminal justice. 

NIC's Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement (OCJTP) was
formed 2 years ago as a result of the Crime Act to support job training and
placement programs for offenders and ex-offenders. In fiscal year 1997,
OCJTP offered two 1-week training sessions for offender employment
specialists at NIC's training academy in Longmont, Colorado. Due to the
overwhelming demand, in fiscal year 1998 three more training sessions
have been scheduled at the Longmont Training Academy. NIC and the
National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) are
currently developing a curriculum for a new offender vocational
counselors training series to be offered during fiscal year 1999 through
NIC's training academy. In addition, OCJTP is planning a national forum
of administrators to supervise offender job training and placement
programs nationally.

OCE awarded a number of grants under its Life Skills for State and Local
Prisoners Program in September 1997. Grants awarded to correctional
agencies ranged from $300,000 to $450,000, and program implementation
has begun at the selected sites. Work on the development of OCE's
Marketing Guide for Offender Skills and the Consumer's Guide to Life
Skills Curricula has been completed.

Other agencies and committees have come on board, too. The recently
created Inmate Placement Program Branch (IPPB) within the Federal
Bureau of Prisons has developed a strategic action plan to enhance
employment opportunities for Federal prisoners. Federal Prison Industries
(FPI) has demonstrated its commitment to IPPB's mission and has
announced its intention to contract with companies that agree to make
provisions to employ ex-offenders. NOICC works closely with all of the
agencies involved in expanding employment opportunities for
ex-offenders. Currently, NOICC staff are exploring the possibility of
importing the U.S. Department of Labor's America's Training Network
into Federal correctional institutions.

Finally, the agencies point to collective efforts to assist correctional
institutions in replicating the mock job fair concept as a tremendous
success. A number of correctional administrators have sponsored mock job
fairs in Federal correctional institutions. The Safer Foundation has now
incorporated mock job fairs into its overall operation and the Maryland
Division of Correction sponsors mock job fairs on a quarterly basis. A
number of other States have sought training and assistance to implement
similar programs. 

As long as the demand for information on offender job training,
placement, and retention grows, NIJ, NIC, and OCE will continue to share
available resources to fulfill this need. Be assured that the response to this
expressed need will continue to be consumer driven. Those on the front
lines are encouraged to contact agency staff and share knowledge and
experience about promising practices. Your assistance is requested in
identifying new approaches to job training, placement, and retention
efforts. You are encouraged to be an active partner in the collaborative
process. 

Jeremy Travis
Director
National Institute of Justice

Morris Thigpen
Director
National Institute of Corrections

Richard Smith
Director
Office of Correctional Education

-------------------------------

Highlights

From its beginnings as a two-city pilot program in 1985, Texas' Project
RIO (Re-Integration of Offenders) has become one of the most ambitious
State government programs devoted to placing parolees in jobs in the
Nation. Operating through the Texas Workforce Commission (the State's
employment agency), RIO has more than 100 staff members in 62 offices
who provide job placement services to nearly 16,000 parolees each year in
every county in the State. In addition to its statewide coverage, Project
RIO is unusual in the following respects:

o The program provides job preparation services to inmates while they are
still incarcerated in State prisons so that they have a head start in
postrelease job hunting. At the same time, RIO's prison presence spreads
the word to inmates that the program is waiting to help them find work the
day they are released.

o Project RIO represents the close collaboration of two State agencies--the
Texas Workforce Commission, where the program is housed, and the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, whose RIO-funded assessment
specialists help prepare inmates for employment and whose parole officers
refer released inmates to the program.

o Piggybacking on the good reputation most local Texas Workforce
Commission offices have in the business community, Project RIO has
developed a pool of more than 12,000 employers who have hired parolees
referred by the program. 

A 1992 independent evaluation documented that 69 percent of RIO
participants found employment, compared with 36 percent of a matched
group of non-RIO parolees. In addition, 1 year after release, participants
had worked at some time during more 3-month intervals than comparison
group members. During the year after release, only 23 percent of high-risk
RIO participants returned to prison, compared with 38 percent of a
comparable group of non-RIO parolees. 

In 1996, Texas had the second-largest prison population in the country
(behind California)--132,000 inmates. As a result, public pressure and
positive evaluation results motivated the Texas legislature to increase
RIO's budget to nearly $8 million. While this was a major increase in
RIO's budget, the independent evaluation estimated that the program
continually saved the State money--more than $15 million in 1990 alone--
by helping to reduce the number of parolees who would otherwise have
been rearrested and sent back to prison.

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Texas' Project RIO (Re-Integration of Offenders)

by Peter Finn

"Sorry it's taken so long to write, but I do have a good excuse. I'm working
7 days a week, 14 hours a day, driving for an appliance store. I deliver
appliances for $15 a trip, and I try to do as much as possible each day. I
average about $100 a day, saving every cent for a new truck."

"When I went for my job interview I told the interviewer up front that I was
on parole, but it made no difference at all to him. And for anyone who is
interested, Project RIO works. Not only does it help you find a job, they
call and talk to the company before you have your interview. Get involved
with Project RIO."

"When I went to the employment office under Project RIO, it made finding
a job easy. I went for two interviews and got one job [with the second
company]. But, the first company I applied with has already called me for
a second interview and [also] wants to hire me. It starts out at less money,
but within a year I'll be making about $35,000 a year, working 5 days a
week, 8 hours a day. Once I get enough money together to buy a new truck
I may switch jobs."

--Excerpts from a letter from a Project RIO participant to a friend still in
prison

In December 1996, the Texas prison system--housing the second largest
prison population in the Nation after California--was bulging with more
than 132,000 inmates.[1] Not surprisingly, public officials and the State's
citizens alike felt it was essential to reduce the number of prison inmates
in order to control skyrocketing corrections costs. One way to reduce
inmate populations is to reduce recidivism. Project RIO (Re-Integration of
Offenders) is one major initiative the State has undertaken to help keep
ex-offenders from going back to prison. The program began as a two-city
pilot program in 1985. (See "How RIO Began: Reducing Recidivism.") 

As with similar programs across the country, Project RIO is based on the
theory--supported by considerable hard evidence--that if inmates can find
a decent job as soon as possible after release, they are less likely to return
to a life of crime and to prison. (See "The Employment-Recidivism
Link.") Project RIO puts theory into practice, not only by helping
ex-offenders in every corner of the State find jobs but also by beginning
the placement process while clients are still in prison, long before their
release date.

Funded entirely by State general revenues, Project RIO represents an
unusual collaboration between two State agencies: The program is jointly
operated by the Texas Workforce Commission (the State's employment
agency) and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (Institutional and
Parole Divisions). Exhibit 1 (page 6) illustrates the relationships between
these agencies, as well as the program's staffing arrangement. 

Project RIO has been able to work with thousands of incarcerated clients
every year and continues to serve most of them after their release. Data
show that Project RIO succeeds in placing offenders in jobs (due in part to
the State's abundance of employment opportunities) and that it is probably
effective in reducing recidivism (since employed, ex-offenders are less
likely to reoffend).

Project RIO Operates Statewide          

"In some small towns, where everyone knows everyone else, ex-offenders
don't have a hope of getting a job without a RIO employment specialist
placing a call to stimulate hires."

Burt Ellison, Project RIO Program Director

Blanketing the State, Project RIO makes job placement services available
to every parolee in Texas. More than 100 program staff in 62 sites serve
92 Texas cities and towns. Exhibit 2 (page 7) identifies each service site
and the counties each site serves.

Project RIO operates three types of offices:

o Full-service offices in each of the State's seven largest cities offer clients
a weeklong job search workshop, one-on-one assistance with job
placement, use of a resource room (including computers with job listings,
telephone books, and telephones), and postplacement followup.

o Balance of State offices are in smaller jurisdictions and consist of one
part-time to three full-time RIO staff members who work out of the local
Texas Workforce Commission office.

o Itinerant service providers travel periodically from a Balance of State
office to spend 1 or 2 days a week in communities where there are a
substantial number of parolees. 

Project RIO's first point of contact, however, is in the State's 108 prison
facilities.

Prison Programs

"Six months before release, Mr. Fulp [a RIO assessment specialist in one of
the prisons] finds out about your work history, skills, and how you get
along with people. He even sent information about me to a company that
manufactures school buses, because I went through mechanic training
here. So when I'm released, I'll go to RIO to get an interview with the
company. Mr. Fulp and RIO helped me realize that the sooner I get a job,
the less likely I'll be to go back to a life of crime."

--Prison inmate

Project RIO starts serving offenders while they are still in prison to help
them develop the skills and attitudes they will need to find and keep a job
outside prison and to give them a head start in their search for employment
the moment they hit the streets. The program's prison activities also serve
an important outreach function by spreading the word that RIO is waiting
to help every inmate after release. Interested inmates formally enroll in
RIO while still in prison.

Project RIO's principal presence in prisons is through the Windham
School District, which is a school operating within the State's prisons.
Funded by the Texas Education Agency, Windham provides education and
training within Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities through a
memorandum of understanding. The Texas Department of Criminal
Justice oversees Windham's performance in terms of inmate participation
in educational programs.

Project RIO funds salaries for 74 Texas Department of Criminal Justice
assessment specialists, 45 clerical staff members, and 1 administrator. In
the prison units, these RIO staff members are under the direct supervision
of the Windham principal, working in close collaboration with Windham
teachers, counselors, and other staff members. The Windham/Project RIO
team provides inmates with the following services:

o Assessment and testing. Evaluating each participant's skills and work
history, a RIO assessment specialist develops an employability
development plan that reflects the availability of jobs and occupational
demands in the community where the inmate will be released. The
specialist also refers RIO participants to appropriate academic or
vocational programs within the facility.

o Documentation. Assessment specialists gather birth certificates, Social
Security cards, General Education Diplomas (GEDs), and school
transcripts, either by asking family members to get them or by writing or
telephoning for the documents themselves.

o Job readiness training. A specialist meets with every RIO enrollee who
is within 2 years of release; they meet every 90 days thereafter to hone the
inmate's job interviewing skills.

o Employability and life skills workbooks. Under a specialist's
supervision, inmates work at their own pace, completing a series of seven
workbooks, called PROD (Project RIO Occupational Direction).

o Changes program. The Windham School offers a 90- to 120-hour,
65-day life skills program to RIO participants who are within 6 months of
release. Taught by Windham instructors, the course consists of six
modules that address the following: self-concept (including anger
management), family relationships (including parenting responsibilities
and techniques), civic and legal responsibilities (including paying taxes),
victim awareness (including domestic violence), personal health and
hygiene (including signs of substance abuse), and job preparation
(including job search and interviewing skills). The course is taught
through lectures, discussions, books, and newspapers. According to one
student, "Changes was good--it taught me things like how to get life
insurance and start my own business, and it taught me how to survive in
the normal world."

Inmate exposure

Texas inmates learn about Project RIO in a variety of ways:

o A RIO assessment specialist distributes RIO brochures to all new
inmates during prison orientation.

o Inmates who enroll in Windham's vocational courses are also required to
enroll in RIO. 

o RIO assessment specialists recruit eligible inmates to participate in the
Changes program using a short videotape that presents interviews with
former inmates whom RIO helped find well-paying, nonmenial jobs.

o Project RIO's two information specialists--both former drug-involved
offenders--periodically provide presentations about the program to
inmates.

o Some RIO employment specialists visit prisons accompanied by
employers who talk about both the RIO clients already working for them
and their interest in hiring other qualified ex-offenders through RIO. (See
"Some Employers Spend a Day in Prison.")

o On release day, a RIO staff member gives every group of inmates a
30-minute orientation to RIO, including a card with the RIO hotline that
individuals can call to learn about the RIO office nearest them. Joan
Goodwin, an information specialist in the Austin office, receives about
150 hotline calls each month. 

About these outreach efforts, one ex-offender said, "You hear about RIO
all the time when you're locked up. People come in and talk about it; you
hear about it again when you're released at Huntsville [the central release
processing unit]." Word-of-mouth from other inmates who are themselves
RIO participants is often the best outreach strategy.

Benefits to inmates and Project RIO

In 1996, 16,000 inmates participated in RIO. Why? A major reason is the
chance to improve their lives after release. However, assessment
specialists send all inmates a letter when they are within 5 years of release
explaining that the parole board will look more favorably on them if they
participate actively in RIO.

In-prison RIO participation also benefits RIO employment specialists.
According to Patricia Scott, a supervisor in RIO's Houston office, "Clients
who have gone through RIO's in-prison programs--especially the Changes
class--are more familiar than other clients with completing rsums, being
interviewed for a job, and other job preparation skills. They also have their
paperwork already prepared, so we don't have to take the time to secure
it." Cathy Boswell, an employment specialist in RIO's Austin office, says,
"Parolees who have participated in RIO in prison don't mistrust me as
much as other parolees, so it's easier to work with them."

Postprison Services

"I got out of prison April 22 [1996], after being locked up for 10 years for
robbing a bank at gunpoint. For 3 weeks, I just hung out, reacclimating to
society. But I got restless the fourth week and tried to get a job. But
nobody called me back. At the same time, my parole officer kept asking
me, 'Have you gone to RIO yet?' I thought the program would get me only
menial jobs, like heavy cleanup work, but finally I went just to appease my
parole officer. [After I completed RIO's 5-day job preparation course] . . . I
got the first job I interviewed at, a sales agent at a hotel."

--Project RIO participant

Outreach, recruitment, and intake

Although Project RIO's first contact with clients is usually while they are
still in prison, its primary mission is to place participants in jobs after
release. Project RIO enrolls parolees (representing 85 percent of all Texas
releasees) and inmates released from 2-year jail facilities and serves them
while they are under supervision. However, the program lacks the
resources to also serve Texas' 450,000 probationers.

While some ex-offenders go to RIO offices on their own initiative, most
arrive after being referred by their parole officer. Indeed, many parolees go
straight from their parole officer to RIO on their release day. Except for
active substance abusers and releasees with outstanding warrants, Texas
Department of Criminal Justice regulations require parole officers to refer
to RIO all unemployed, part-time employed, or underemployed releasees
during their initial parole visit and at any other time when unemployment
problems develop. However, in practice parole officers exercise
considerable discretion about whether to make a referral.

Project RIO Director Burt Ellison estimates that, depending on the parole
and RIO offices, anywhere from 10 to 55 percent of referred parolees
actually show up. What happens to unemployed parolees who refuse to go
to RIO? According to Tony Lyro, formerly the Parole Division's liaison
with RIO, "While some of these clients get jobs on their own, most of
them are incorrigible releasees from the git-go--they won't take courses, go
to substance abuse treatment, or find work. So sooner or later they violate
the conditions of release and are returned to court." 

Job preparation

"As soon as I walked in the front door, I was guided through a clear
process. First I took RIO's weeklong job preparation course, where I knew
some of the information but learned some new things, especially how to
handle being an ex-offender during the job interview. I landed a job at a
rehabilitation center because I learned from RIO that I should look the
interviewer in the eye, how to answer the question, "Why should we hire
you?," and how to explain my past. Then the firm went bankrupt. In the
past I would have turned to drugs, but instead I came back to RIO to
practice my interviewing techniques again. Two months later, a friend told
me to interview at her law firm; I used the techniques I had learned at RIO
and landed that job, too."

--Project RIO participant 

Project RIO prepares participants for job interviews through the in-prison
Changes program and, when needed, through a weeklong, all-day life
skills and job search course given at the seven full-service offices that
serve the vast majority of Texas parolees. 

Job placement

"I always thought RIO made you attend a lot of classes and schooling
before they would find you a job. But I was surprised--they got me a job in
3 days. My parole officer sent me here, I interviewed the same day I
walked into RIO, and 2 days later I was hired. And you can go back for a
part-time job any time; I just did, and I was given some applications that
the employment specialist found on the computer while I was sitting in her
office. Now, when I go to meetings at the parole office, the other guys ask
me, 'How'd you get a job at XYZ?' I tell them, 'RIO got me a job in 3 days.
You should go, too.'"

--Employed Project RIO participant

Project RIO employment specialists match specific clients with specific
job openings on the basis of skills and temperament. While they place
some cold calls to employers to pitch RIO clients, the specialists can
usually get one of the 12,000 companies that have hired RIO participants
in the past--and have been satisfied with the results--to interview new
candidates. Program employment specialists also have immediate access
to the Texas Workforce Commission's entire database of job openings on
their office computers. All RIO full-service offices also provide clients
with a resource room equipped with computers that have job listings,
telephone books, and telephones.

According to Burt Ellison, "The biggest incentive [for companies to hire
RIO clients] is that employers know what they're getting through us. When
John Q. Public walks in, they don't have a clue." Employers also value
dependability; as one reported, "RIO's referrals seem to stay longer than
people I hire off the street." (See "Three Satisfied RIO Employers.")

Followup

Many RIO clients have serious social needs, ranging from medical care to
shelter, that could interfere with their ability to find or retain a job if left
unresolved. Employment specialists provide all enrollees with an
up-to-date directory of local social and community services, from medical
services for indigent persons to food, clothing, and housing resources.
Some RIO employment specialists take a more active role in addressing
these needs. Cathy Boswell says, "If they need a GED, I make the
appointment to get them enrolled; if they need clothes, I call or write a
letter to the Salvation Army." For a client whose broken jaw was wired
because of a volleyball accident just before he left prison, Boswell secured
free cans of a liquid diet supplement from a local charitable agency,
clothing from the St. Vincent DePaul Society, medical care from a hospital
(which referred him to an oral surgeon for free removal of the wires), and
eyeglasses from the Foundation for the Homeless.

Employment specialists telephone employers at 30-, 60-, and 90-day
intervals to find out whether there have been any problems with placed
participants, and they encourage employers to call RIO to address any
difficulties. When participants lose their jobs due to layoffs or other
factors beyond their control, RIO's employment specialists help them find
another job. If an employee relapses into drug or alcohol abuse, the
specialist works with the parole officer to send the person for 90-day
treatment, after which placement services resume. 

Interagency Collaboration

Project RIO involves close collaboration between the Texas Workforce
Commission and two divisions of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice--the Institutional Division (prisons) and the Parole Division.
Although these entities have very different missions--safety and
employment--they have a single goal for Project RIO: placing offenders in
jobs to save the State money by reducing recidivism. Historically, the
closest collaboration has occurred between Project RIO and the Parole
Division.

According to Burt Ellison, "Parole administrators have collaborated with
us from day 1 because RIO helps them in their supervision--we reduce
their workload by taking the burden off them for employment and support
services." Nevertheless, as with any effort of this magnitude, initial
conflicts between parole officers and RIO did occur.

The most serious problem was that many parole officers would not refer
clients to RIO because they doubted that the program's employment
specialists could really find jobs for ex-offenders--a population the Texas
Workforce Commission had never successfully served. In addition, the
Parole Division would not share its employment development plans with
RIO offices, claiming that doing so would violate client confidentiality.

Communication

The two agencies took several steps to resolve their initial differences.
First, legal counsel was sought and reported that the two agencies working
together did not constitute a breach of privacy because any exchange of
information was made only with each client's written consent. Then, in
1989, the executive directors of the Texas Workforce Commission and the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice signed a memorandum of
understanding that detailed each agency's responsibilities, with a major
focus on communication. Pursuant to the understanding, the Parole
Division appointed Tony Lyro as full-time RIO coordinator--funded by
RIO--to handle problems both within the Parole Division and with RIO.
Lyro met with every parole office manager, instructing them to stop telling
RIO staff members how to operate. He also educated them about what
RIO could and could not do. For example, some parole officers resented
the fact that RIO would receive credit for placements if clients got jobs on
their own after RIO counseling. Lyro told them, "What you don't see is
that the parolee received counseling first from RIO in prison and again at a
RIO office. But if the guy loses his job and returns to RIO for another
placement, RIO doesn't get any additional credit." At the same time, Burt
Ellison provided similar directives and information to RIO office
managers. 

Two other considerations also promoted collaboration between RIO and
the Parole Division. First, according to Ellison, "There was strong buy-in
from the top because the heads of the Texas Employment Commission and
Department of Criminal Justice knew each other personally, got along well
together before RIO was established, and were unusually forward-thinking
people who realized the importance of tackling the recidivism problem."
Second, Ellison says, "Parole's mission used to be only supervision, but,
because of the high costs of maintaining our prisons, the legislature
redefined Parole's mission to help clients avoid going back to prison. We
help them achieve that new mission." 

Degrees of collaboration

According to John Ownby, one of three RIO program coordinators in the
central office who share responsibility for monitoring RIO staff members
across the State, "The degree of collaboration between Project RIO and the
Parole Division varies among local RIO and parole offices; a lot of RIO's
success is based on relationships built between our staff and parole
officers." For example, clients sometimes complain to their RIO
employment specialists that their parole officers are requiring
appointments at times that conflict with the ex-offenders' work hours. RIO
employment specialists who are on good terms with parole officers can
quickly work out a satisfactory solution. To develop rapport with parole
officers in her jurisdiction, Cathy Boswell has arranged lunches with them,
gone to their softball games and baby showers, and faxed invitations to a
happy hour she sponsored, which was attended by 15 officers. 

According to Tony Lyro, "In those sites with good communication and
coordination between local RIO offices and parole officers, the
collaboration is great: Parole officers do not have to find parolees jobs,
allowing them to concentrate their efforts on other supervision
responsibilities. But when communication is poor, officers may continue
to take responsibility for finding their clients employment because they are
not confident that RIO can do the job."

Lyro adds, "In some rural areas, ex-offenders can almost always find jobs
because people take care of their own and unemployment is low. That,
coupled with the fact that the nearest RIO employment specialist may be
30 miles away, leads some parole officers to help their clients get jobs."
However, most parole officers, especially in cities, will not try to find
work for parolees who refuse to go to RIO because Project RIO is already
the ex-offenders' best possible resource for help in finding a job.

When communication and trust are high, local RIO offices and parole
officers work very closely. 

o Some parole offices invite Project RIO staff members to orient new
parole officers to the program as part of the officers' standard preservice
training.

o In some smaller jurisdictions where parole officers must travel to serve
parolees, if there is a Balance of State office in the town, the RIO staff
person furnishes the officer with a desk and telephone at no cost to the
Parole Division. 

o One day, an employed RIO participant complained desperately to his
Austin-area employer that, because his parole office was going to move
him to another county, he would have to start his job search all over again.
The employer called the worker's employment specialist, who told the
Austin RIO site manager. The manager arranged with the client's parole
office supervisor to have the move rescinded.

A little distance between the two agencies may be beneficial, however,
according to Ellison. "We prefer not being colocated with Parole Division
offices because we have more independence when we're physically
separated. We also avoid being seen as a criminal justice agency--we can
be the people wearing the white hats. And while we lose some clients
because they won't travel from the parole office to a RIO office, forcing
them to make the trip helps us screen them for motivation."

Project RIO also works closely with the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice's Institutional Division. Once again, a productive, collaborative
relationship developed.

o The Institutional Division allows RIO's two information specialists--
both ex-offenders--to talk with inmates in prison even though State policy
normally prevents former inmates from going back into a prison. 

o The Institutional Division integrates RIO's 30-minute presentation on the
program, given to inmates the day they are released from prison, into the
morning's prerelease activities, rather than forcing RIO staff to offer it at
the end of the session when inmates are so excited about leaving that they
cannot concentrate on anything except getting out the door.

Monitoring and Evaluation

A program operating in 62 offices in an area as large as Texas and
requiring close working relations with another large bureaucracy (the
parole system) cannot be effective without a systematic approach to
oversight.

Performance monitoring

Project RIO has an automated data processing and tracking system at the
individual office and statewide levels that tracks releasee referrals and
status. Data for each client include offense and parole information,
referrals for education and training, test scores, certificates and degrees
received, PROD (Project RIO Occupational Direction) booklets
completed, family contacts, military service, birth certificate, and other
information pertinent to the employability of the client. Every RIO
employment specialist can access the information online and update it as
needed during a counseling session. Other data in the system include
information on each site's number of enrollees and percentage of
placements. 

Three RIO project coordinators based in Austin--each responsible for
one-third of the State--use this information, along with site visits, to
monitor every office's performance. For example, coordinators may spot a
slippage in the number of parolee referrals or job placements at a site.
They first suggest remedial action, such as spending more time at the local
parole office to resolve problems. A coordinator visits the site 90 days
later to see if the deficiencies have been remedied. If no improvement has
occurred, the coordinator works with the Parole Division RIO liaison or
local Workforce Commission manager to solve the problem. In addition to
these troubleshooting site visits, the coordinators visit every office in their
jurisdiction annually for quality control checks.

Although RIO has written operating standards that site offices are
expected to follow, the coordinators allow individual sites considerable
autonomy in how they operate. According to John Ownby, a coordinator,
"No one in the State RIO office has all the answers; we've found local staff
doing things differently than they were supposed to--but better." The
following examples illustrate how local offices adapted operational
procedures to meet their own needs:

o Project RIO requires its staff to send a form to a client's parole officer if
they remove the client from the program (for example, for repeatedly
going to appointments under the influence of drugs or alcohol, failing to
attend two or three scheduled interviews with employers, or stealing on
the job). Ownby learned that the Pasadena office modified the form to
include a checkoff section for parole officers to complete and return to the
office indicating why a person was not participating--for example,
"absconded," "employed," or "moved out of State." Ownby instituted the
innovation programwide.

o "Offices need to be given flexibility to tailor their services to the local
job market," Ownby says. For example, employment specialists in the El
Paso office may need to tell clients to come in twice a week because quick
turnover in the local labor market creates constant work opportunities,
while in a small town with only two viable employers, the employment
specialist may have to tell clients seeking work to call in only once a
month.

While the coordinators make sure that the basic RIO framework is in place
in every site, they do not check for rigid adherence to program operating
procedures. The most frequent local "framework" problem that
coordinators find is staff neglecting to visit parole officers on a routine
basis. Sometimes the problem reflects the attitudes of local RIO office
managers who discourage these contacts because they feel that an
employment specialist who is not at his or her desk is not making
placements. As a result, coordinators have to remind the managers and
employment specialists that visiting and establishing personal
relationships with parole officers is critical to RIO's success.

The Parole Division's RIO coordinator monitors the work quality of his
staff. During his tenure, Tony Lyro closely checked monthly referrals to
RIO. "If the rate dropped, that was a red flag to see what was going on.
Once I noticed zero referrals for 3 months from one smaller office in
central Texas. I called the office's RIO coordinator and asked what the
problem was. The answer was that parole officers didn't have confidence
in the half-time RIO employment specialist. 'She showed no interest in
helping us,' they said, and parolees were reporting that she didn't help
them either. So I drove to the parole office and met with the five parole
officers to hear firsthand about the problem." Lyro then called the RIO
regional coordinator at the time, Burt Ellison, and said, "We have a
problem." So Ellison also drove to the site and, he reports, "I found--as is
the source of 90 percent of these problems--that the Workforce
Commission office manager was saddling the RIO staff person with other
work, such as Women, Infants and Children (WIC) responsibilities,
leaving her no time to handle parole referrals." After Ellison asked the
manager to relieve the part-time specialist of these other responsibilities,
he and Lyro went back to the parole office together and asked the officers
to start making referrals again, with a promise of better results.

Evaluations

Project RIO's raw numbers are a measurement of the program's success.

o Service delivery. During fiscal year 1995, RIO served 15,366 parolees,
representing about 40 percent of all ex-offenders (and 47 percent of all
parolees) released from prison that year. Program staff consider a parolee
to be a client when a work application and employability development
plan have been completed.

o Placements. Project RIO has placed 69 percent of more than 100,000
ex-offenders served since 1985. Almost 74 percent of clients in 1995--
11,371 parolees--found employment at an average wage of $5.15 per hour
(at a time when the minimum wage was $4.25 per hour). [2]

Project RIO clients appear to be much more likely to get jobs than
ex-offenders who do not participate in the program. A 1992 study by
Texas A&M University found the following:

o Participation in RIO. Participation was a statistically significant
predictor of postrelease employment. Based on a 1-year followup, 69
percent of program participants found employment compared with 36
percent of non-RIO parolees, with both groups of ex-offenders having
similar demographic characteristics (age, race, ethnicity) and risk of
reoffending (previous offenses, prior incarcerations, academic and
vocational educational achievement levels).

o Data on job retention. Available data were limited to documentation
from Social Security withholding records that an ex-offender worked at
least 1 day in each of four quarters for 1 year after release. On average,
RIO participants worked during 1.8 quarters, while non-RIO releasees
worked in 1.1 quarters.

o Minority ex-offenders. Minorities did especially well in RIO: 66 percent
of African-American participants and 66 percent of Hispanic-American
participants found employment, compared with only 30 percent of
African-Americans and 36 percent of Hispanic-Americans who were not
enrolled in the program. [3]

But does Project RIO help prevent recidivism? According to the Texas
A&M University study, the answer is yes. Ex-offenders who found jobs
through RIO had lower recidivism rates than unemployed ex-offenders
who did not enroll in RIO, with demographic factors and risk of
recidivism taken into account. In addition, during the year after release,
when most recidivism occurs, [4] 48 percent of RIO high-risk clients were
rearrested compared with 57 percent of non-RIO high-risk parolees; 23
percent were reincarcerated, compared with 38 percent of non-RIO
parolees. (See exhibit 3.) These figures suggest that employment and
participation in Project RIO have been of greatest benefit to ex-offenders
whom prison and parole personnel consider most likely to reoffend.

The evaluations of Project RIO have several weaknesses. For instance,
researchers were unable to determine whether the parolees who were most
likely to succeed on their own were the ones who joined RIO. However,
the Texas A&M study found few objective differences between RIO
participants and nonparticipants and believe that these differences were
unlikely to have influenced the positive findings. [5] Furthermore, both
Burt Ellison and Tony Lyro believe that if parole officers are being
selective in deciding which parolees to refer to RIO, they are probably
sending over their worst clients, those least likely to succeed on their own.
According to Lyro, "Although parole officers are supposed to refer every
unemployed client to RIO, they typically put the most pressure to enroll
on high-risk ex-offenders because these parolees need the most help."
Ellison adds, "Parole officers are under pressure to come to some
resolution with each client, whether a positive or a negative outcome. So
they keep urging the parolees who are not adhering to parole plans to go to
RIO, so that either these clients will end up finally getting a job or the
officers can use the parolees' repeated refusal to enroll in RIO to build a
case for applying sanctions."

What does it cost to achieve these results? The 1995 Texas Legislature
provided Project RIO with $15.8 million for 2 years. Of this, $4.69 million
per year is funneled to the Texas Workforce Commission through an
interagency contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The
department uses $2.9 million per year for its prison- and parole-related
Project RIO activities. The program spent $361 in 1995 for every client
who found a job.

The Texas A&M researchers examined the records of 6,500 clients who
received services in 1990. According to the researchers, nearly 20 percent
of these avoided reincarceration partly because of their participation in
RIO. [6] The cost of incarcerating these individuals would have amounted
to about $20 million per year (about $16,000 per inmate per year). Since
Project RIO's costs were about $4 million in 1990, this represents potential
savings of more than $15 million for the State that year. 

The researchers also observed that each ex-offender who worked in 1990
generated about $1,000 in State and local taxes, representing $1.2 million
in revenue to the State.

Keys to Success

"RIO is one of the few State programs really doing something."

--Texas State Senator

Government self-interest

Many factors account for Project RIO's achievements, but as a State
government program, an essential precondition to its survival is satisfying
the legislature. Project RIO appears to be in the self-interest of Texas
policymakers. Legislators are under pressure to reduce crime and prison
costs. By voting to fund Project RIO, lawmakers can tell constituents they
are attacking crime and saving taxpayer dollars. Furthermore, once key
legislators have agreed to fund a program, they develop a stake in helping
it succeed. 

Because the entire criminal justice system is ultimately accountable to the
legislature, as well as subject to public pressure, reducing recidivism and
offender costs becomes a prime concern for the prison system and Parole
Division.

Of course, the best possible public relations tool is an independent
evaluation that shows the program is working--precisely what Texas A&M
provided. As Burt Ellison says, "Governors and legislators wanted hard
numbers to be able to show taxpayers that the program was saving
money."

Other strategies

Program staff offer other suggestions for ensuring that a RIO-type
program will succeed. 

o "Avoid complicated policies and procedures; for all parolees who have
an employment problem, send them to RIO. Use a simple referral form." 

o "Allow flexibility in day-to-day operations at the local office level." The
Parole Division gives local offices considerable flexibility in how they
handle making referrals to RIO; Project RIO allows a large degree of
operational choice among its local offices. 

o "Make sure you have control over staffing and then hire staff who will 
be comfortable working with ex-offenders." Project RIO must accept those
employees the Texas Workforce Commission has assigned to the program.
Because these staff are not always suitable or interested, this lack of
choice has been, and continues to be, a problem for RIO.

Can Other States Set Up Similar Programs?

Project RIO has been assisted by circumstances that may not exist in other
States, including high employer demand for workers in Texas, lack of
opposition from organized labor because of the State's tight labor market,
and pressure to address recidivism created by the second highest number
of prison inmates in the Nation. In addition, the Texas Workforce
Commission has had offices around the State since 1935; because of the
Commission's generally good reputation in local communities, the local
RIO staff had a head start in receiving employer cooperation. 

Although Texas was well suited to initiate Project RIO, other State
departments of employment security or corrections could implement a
RIO-type program. Hundreds of employers in many other States that do
not have such low unemployment rates, such a tolerant organized labor
movement, or as many inmates have hired thousands of ex-offenders. The
Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole is already implementing aspects of
the RIO model. (See "Georgia Attempts to Replicate Project RIO.") If
using local employment security offices and staff to provide job placement
services is not feasible, Washington State's approach can be adopted--
contracting with local community-based organizations throughout the
State to furnish job placement services to ex-offenders. 

Nonprofit Implementation of the RIO Model

While initially it may seem unlikely, a nonprofit organization might be
able to implement a RIO-type program. For example, a
government-funded program would have a level of stability that a
nonprofit cannot achieve, since government-funded programs do not have
to devote resources to raising money and have access to computer
networks and office facilities that nonprofits would have to purchase.
However, RIO staff must pay considerable attention to securing and
maintaining legislative support, an issue nonprofits do not have to
consider. Furthermore, as public officials change and government funding
dries up, State-financed programs are sometimes cut despite their good
work. Government bureaucratic processes can thwart collaboration
attempts. Clearly, nonprofit and government sponsorships can both
involve barriers, but Texas' experience demonstrates that these barriers can
be overcome with creatively applied collaborative efforts.

Notes

1 .  Mumola, C.J., and A.J. Beck, Prisoners in 1996, Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, June 1997.

2 .  Clients placed a second or third time by employment specialists (for
example, because they lost their job due to layoffs) are not counted as new
placements in RIO's database; there are no duplicate counts.

3 .  Menon, R., C. Blakely, D. Carmichael, and L. Silver, An Evaluation of
Project RIO Outcomes: An Evaluative Report, College Station, Texas:
Texas A&M University, Public Policy Resources Laboratory, 1992.

4 .  Hoffman, P., and B. Meierhoefer, "Post-Release Experiences of
Federal Prisoners: A Six-Year Follow-up," Journal of Criminal Justice 7
(1979): 193-216; Beck, R.A., and B.E. Shipley, Recidivism of Prisoners
Released in 1983, Special Report, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1989. 

5 .  African-Americans comprised 44 percent of both groups; 21 percent of
RIO participants were Hispanic-American, compared with 17 percent of
the comparison group; and 35 percent of participants were white,
compared with 39 percent of the comparison group. The average age of
both groups was 31. The previous offense rates for both groups were also
very similar. RIO participants had slightly higher rates of violent crime
(24 percent versus 20 percent) and slightly lower rates of drug offenses (22
percent versus 26 percent) than nonparticipants, but the two groups had
almost the same rates for larceny and other crimes. The groups' average
number of prior incarcerations was almost identical (0.8 versus 0.9).
However, other unmeasured factors, such as changes in marital status and
family support, might have accounted for some of the program
participants' success. Also, the RIO evaluation does not indicate the
duration of participants' continuous employment after finding a job
compared with that of nonparticipants. Future evaluations of ex-offender
job placement programs would be strengthened if they collected these
types of information. They would also be improved if ex-offenders were
randomly assigned to program participation and nonparticipation. (Of
course, excluding some individuals from program participation might be
considered unethical, politically unacceptable, or both.) Comprehensive
evaluation is an essential component of good program development and
implementation. In addition to contracting with an outside evaluator, as
Project RIO did, programs should make every effort to devise a
comprehensive evaluation instrument for in-house annual evaluation that
would help program administrators gain insight into the program's results.
Multiple sources of evaluation should be used, including qualitative and
quantitative assessments of program effectiveness using information from
parole officers, project administrators, employment specialists, and
participants. Project RIO's evaluation was conducted in 1992; a more
recent study would help confirm and expand previous findings. Despite
these limitations, the assessments that Project RIO has conducted remain
among the most thorough that are now available in the field.

6 .  Because the research design did not involve random assignment of
some ex-offenders to Project RIO and some to nonparticipation, the
researchers were reluctant to say unequivocally that participation in RIO
caused the participants to find employment. For example, because it is
possible that RIO participants were more motivated to succeed than
ex-offenders who did not enroll in the program, some might have found
work even without the program's services.

-------------------------------

About This Study

This document was written by Peter Finn, Senior Research Associate, Abt
Associates Inc. Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or
policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

-------------------------------

The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the
Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

The National Institute of Corrections is a component of the Federal Bureau
of Prisons.

The Office of Correctional Education is a division of the Office of
Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.

-------------------------------

Sources for More Information

For additional information about Project RIO, contact:

Burt Ellison
Program Director
Project RIO
Texas Workforce Commission
101 East 15th Street
Austin, TX 78778-0001

Telephone: 512-463-0834
Fax: 512-305-9640

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research and development
arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. For information about NIJ's efforts
in corrections, program development, and corporate partnership
development, contact:

Marilyn Moses
Program Manager
National Institute of Justice
810 Seventh Street N.W.
Room 7114
Washington, DC 20531
Telephone: 202-514-6205
Fax: 202-307-6256
URL: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij

NIJ established the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
in 1972 to serve as a national and international clearinghouse for the
exchange of criminal justice information. For more information about
topical searches, bibliographies, custom searches, and other available
services, contact:

NCJRS
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Telephone: 800-851-3420 (8:30 a.m. to 
7 p.m. Eastern time, Monday-Friday)
URL: http://www.ncjrs.org

For specific criminal justice questions or requests via the Internet, send an
e-mail message to askncjrs@ncjrs.org.

The National Institute of Corrections offers literature searches and free
technical assistance on inmate programming. Contact:

NIC Information Center
National Institute of Corrections
1860 Industrial Circle, Suite A
Longmont, CO 80501
Telephone: 800-877-1461

The National Institute of Corrections' Office of Correctional Job Training
and Placement (OCJTP) was created in 1995 to:

o Cooperate with and coordinate the efforts of other Federal agencies in
the areas of job training and placement.

o Collect and disseminate information on offender job training and
placement programs, accomplishments, and employment outcomes. 

o Provide training to develop staff competencies in working with
offenders and ex-offenders.

o Provide technical assistance to State and local training and employment
agencies.

For more information, contact:

John Moore
Coordinator
Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement
National Institute of Corrections
320 First Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20534
Telephone: 800-995-6423, Ext. 147

The Office of Correctional Education (OCE) within the U.S. Department
of Education was created by Congress in 1991 to provide technical
assistance, grant funding, and research data to the corrections and
correctional education fields. To speak with a program specialist or to be
placed on OCE's mailing list to receive grant announcements, OCE's
quarterly newsletter, and other publications, contact:

Richard Smith
Director
Office of Correctional Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education
U.S. Department of Education
600 Independence Avenue S.W.
MES 4529
Washington, DC 20202-7242
Telephone: 202-205-5621
Fax: 202-205-8793
URL: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/OCE

------------------------------- 

How RIO Began: Reducing Recidivism

In 1984, politicians, prison officials, and the general public in Texas
regarded the criminal justice system as a revolving door--38 percent of
parolees were returning to prison within 3 years. The head of the Parole
Division and the chief of job service operations at the Texas Workforce
Commission (TWC) met with the Governor's staff to propose using a
portion of the Governor's discretionary funds to provide specialized
employment services to ex-offenders in order to attack the recidivism rate.
Parolees were targeted because as long as they were under supervision,
they were the most manageable offender population, they were the
population that was returning to prison most frequently, and their ranks
were smaller than those of probationers.

At the same time, because the Parole Division was having difficulty
finding employment for these men and women, it was felt that the
Workforce Commission would be more successful. In fact, on its own
initiative one local parole office was already collaborating successfully
with a local Workforce Commission office to find jobs for parolees. It
seemed natural to policymakers to extend this informal collaboration
systemwide. As a result, the Governor agreed to fund collaborative
experiments in Dallas and Houston, which were selected because they
accounted for 40 percent of parolees in the State. The Texas Workforce
Commission began operating the pilot sites in 1985 using Federal
Wagner-Peyser Act funds channeled through the Governor. Under the Act,
the U.S. Department of Labor provides funds to State Employment
Security departments, 10 percent of which governors may use to fund
private projects targeting services to special populations (like
ex-offenders). 

An independent evaluation and a study by parole staff conducted in 1987
both suggested that the experimental program--eventually dubbed Project
RIO--was reducing recidivism. As a result, when the Federal
demonstration funds were exhausted, the principals from the Parole
Division and Workforce Commission used the findings to persuade the
Texas legislature to fund the program from general revenues. In fact, the
legislature voted to provide increased funding to serve Texas' five other
largest cities. In 1991, the legislature increased RIO funding further to
include not only parolees in the rest of the State but also inmates.

-------------------------------

The Employment-Recidivism Link

A comprehensive review of available evaluations of offender and
ex-offender programs designed to reduce recidivism by means of training,
education, and job placement concluded, "Even after 30 years of trying . . .
no program--in-prison training, transitional assistance (both in-kind and
monetary assistance), or pretrial diversion--has consistently shown itself
capable (through a rigorous random assignment evaluation) of decreasing
recidivism through labor market-oriented programs, inside or outside
prison." [a] An evaluation of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)
grantees that provided ex-offenders with remedial education, occupational
skills training, job search assistance, or work experience found no
difference in employment rates between the ex-offenders and a group of
nonoffenders. [b] Shortcomings in the research methods used to evaluate
other initiatives to bring offenders into the labor market make it difficult to
conclude that the efforts improved employment or reduced recidivism
among ex-offenders. [c]

However, a study of the use of income supplements [d] confirms previous
findings [e] that ex-offenders with jobs commit fewer crimes than
ex-offenders without jobs and that those with higher earnings commit
fewer crimes than those with lower earnings. In view of the potential
benefits of helping ex-offenders secure well-paid employment, several job
training and placement programs for inmates and ex-offenders have
incorporated innovative or more comprehensive features in an attempt to
achieve greater success than previous efforts to reduce recidivism.

o The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) in New York City
places ex-offenders--most just released from boot camp--in work crews
that provide day labor. In addition to daily income, the crews provide
structure and help participants develop good work habits. Approximately
three-fourths of the 70 program participants who find full-time
employment each year (with most jobs paying more than the minimum
wage and providing fringe benefits) are still employed at the same job
after 1 month. Of these, 50 percent are still working after 6 months. [f]

o Chicago's Safer Foundation, like Project RIO, reaches many offenders
while they are still incarcerated by operating both a private school in the
Cook County Jail in Chicago and a work release center for the Illinois
Department of Corrections. The foundation uses a small-group, peer-based
approach in its in-prison and postprison basic education skills program,
and it provides special case managers to help clients address transitional
problems for up to a year after they have secured employment. Of 72
participants (out of 84 who were initially enrolled) who completed the
course for 16- to 21-year-old ex-offenders, more than two-thirds entered
school, vocational training, or employment. Fifty-eight percent maintained
their placements after 6 months, and only one participant was convicted of
a new crime after 6 months. [g] 

o The Orange County, Florida, Corrections Division provides intensive
educational and vocational programs to its jail inmates. The division links
programming with direct supervision in facilities that have been designed
architecturally to allow maximum direct contact between staff and inmates
by removing physical barriers. Inmates can earn valuable privileges if they
participate in programming and avoid misconduct. For as long as 18
months after release, inmates who were housed 6 to 45 days in direct
supervision facilities with programming were less likely to reoffend than
inmates who were housed there less than 6 days. [h] 

Project RIO is an especially ambitious and promising venture in this
ongoing history of attempts to increase employment among ex-offenders
and thereby reduce recidivism.

a.  Bushway, S., and P. Reuter, "Labor Markets and Crime Risk Factors,"
in Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising, L.S.
Sherman, D. Gottfredson, D. MacKenzie, J. Eck, P. Reuter, and S.
Bushway, eds., Research Report, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, 1997, NCJ 165366.

b.  Finn, M.A., and K.G. Willoughby, "Employment Outcomes of
Ex-Offender Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Trainees," Evaluation
Review 20 (1996): 67-83. See also Bloom, H., L.O. Orr, G. Cave, S.H.
Bell, F. Doolittle, and W. Lin, The National JTPA Study. Overview:
Impacts, Benefits and Costs of Title II-A, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Abt
Associates Inc., 1994.

c.  McDonald, D.C., D.T. Rodda, S.H. Bell, and D.E. Hunt, Transition
Services and Supervision for Released Prisoners: Implications of Research
Findings for Program Development, draft report prepared for the U.S.
Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Abt Associates Inc., 1995.

d.  Berk, R.A., K.J. Leinihan, and P.H. Rossi, "Crime and Poverty: Some
Experimental Evidence from Ex-Offenders," American Sociological
Review 45 (1980): 766-786.

e.  Harer, M.D., Recidivism Among Federal Prison Releasees in 1987: A
Preliminary Report, unpublished paper, Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Research and Evaluation, Federal Bureau
of Prisons, 1994. Anderson, D.B., R.E. Schumacker, and S.L. Anderson,
"Releasee Characteristics and Parole," Journal of Offender Rehabilitation
17 (1991): 133-145.

f.  Finn, P., Successful Job Placement for Ex-Offenders: The Center for
Employment Opportunities, Program Focus, Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 1998, NCJ 168102.

g.  Finn, P., Chicago's Safer Foundation: A Road Back for Ex-Offenders,
Program Focus, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National
Institute of Justice, 1998, NCJ 167575.

h.  Finn, P., The Orange County, Florida, Jail Education and Vocational
Programs, Program Focus, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice,
National Institute of Justice, 1998, NCJ 166820.

-------------------------------

Some Employers Spend a Day in Prison 

"It's very effective when inmates can hear from an employer who's
actually hired inmates," Project RIO's Director, Burt Ellison, reports. "RIO
staff can go in and talk all day to inmates about job opportunities for
ex-offenders, but most inmates remain skeptical." One employer talked for
an hour with 5 different groups of more than 40 inmates each. "I get
personal satisfaction out of talking with inmates," he said. "Everyone
makes mistakes. So I let them know there are opportunities out here for
work." Inmates ask him most frequently about his company's wage level.
According to the employer, "The inmates were amazed it was so high,
especially with bonuses. They also ask whether I have a stable workforce,
because they want permanent jobs when they get out."

-------------------------------

Three Satisfied RIO Employers

Kay Lee Cox owns a wholesale and retail lighting fixture supply store in
Austin whose 30 sales and warehouse staff members have been serving
homeowners and homebuilders since 1972. Looking for employees in
1995, Cox called the Texas Workforce Commission for leads because "the
temporaries I had been using just seemed to come and go." Tipped off by
the commission, Cathy Boswell, an employment specialist in RIO's Austin
office, telephoned Cox and arranged to send over an applicant. Cox says,
"I was very impressed by Greg. I grilled him pretty thoroughly. He told
me he had been in prison for 10 years but had been in sales before. Greg's
been on the sales floor for nearly 5 months now and has performed very
well." Greg started at $6.50 an hour but within 2 months Cox increased
this to $7.50 with fringe benefits and a sales commission--one month
sooner than the typical 90-day probationary period Cox normally uses--
because he was working out so well. "Dependability is important to me,"
Cox says, "and it seems like ex-offenders are ready to settle down.
Besides, temporary agencies are getting expensive; RIO is a free human
resource service for me." But Greg offers the last word: "Of all the good
things RIO does, what makes the program work is companies like this
one."

Ralph is the human resources coordinator for two manufacturing plants
owned by a Fortune 500 company with more than 15,000 employees
nationwide. While a line worker, Ralph had worked without problem side
by side with ex-offenders RIO had placed with the company. As a result,
when Sue Hatcher, RIO's local employment specialist, called to ask if he
would interview some of her clients, he said yes. "I've had real success
with them," he reports. "One who's been here a year is now a group leader
in charge of a department. He began at $6.25 an hour and is now making
$9.39 plus a weekly bonus of between $175 and $202--almost $30,000 a
year. After 60 days, he received all fringe benefits. I hired another RIO
applicant 8 months ago who had taken a trade course in prison. Anytime I
ask him to do something, he does it right away--he never begs off. He even
comes to me asking for more things to do. He's been so reliable I made
him my test man; I trust him not to falsify his test results, even though
everyone's under the gun to get their achievement bonus and reporting a
problem slows up the work." The company's local plants currently employ
more than a dozen RIO clients. Most stay with the company for at least a
year; one has remained for 7 years. "I like RIO because it screens people
well and sends good applicants," Ralph concludes. "So I'm more likely to
hire RIO referrals than other applicants. The result is that I waste less time
than I would have to dealing with people through advertisements."

Wayne Hardin is the personnel manager of a company in Houston that
manufactures and installs traffic signs, highway striping, and highway
barricades. With 130 full-time employees, Hardin has hired more than 30
Project RIO participants; about 15 were working at the plant in late 1996.
Hardin says that originally a Project RIO employment specialist called
him out of the blue, explained the program, and asked if he would consider
interviewing some clients. Hardin reports, "I was initially apprehensive,
but I asked a lot of questions, thought it over for 2 weeks, and then
decided to test the waters. I needed qualified and committed applicants,
and the RIO caller said she screened her referrals carefully." Hardin adds
that he also wanted to do his part to help ex-offenders reintegrate into the
community. Mike, one of Hardin's current RIO employees, started out as a
general laborer in 1992 working on one assignment exclusively, but then
got involved with other parts of the manufacturing process. In 1995, a
foreman left the company for another position. Hardin started looking
around the area for a replacement--and then caught himself and said, "Hey,
we have a good person right here." He promoted Mike to the position.
Hardin went one step further, agreeing to the RIO employment specialist's
request to spend a day in prison talking to inmates about the availability of
work for parolees and the type of work and wages he offered. Hardin has
since made visits to two other prisons. [a]

a.  Wayne Hardin's feeling that he is doing his part to help offenders
reintegrate into the community reflects a number of recent justice
initiatives--such as community policing, neighborhood prosecution, and
restorative justice--that call for local communities to recognize and be
responsible for collaborating with the criminal justice system. To the
extent that a RIO-type program fosters this kind of attitude and activity
among employers, the initiative contributes to the building of community. 

-------------------------------

Georgia Attempts to Replicate Project RIO

Ronnie Lane, Director of Parolee Training and Employment for the
Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole, chairs a State task force charged
with implementing the RIO model.
     
According to Lane, officials in Georgia were becoming increasingly
concerned about the shrinking amount of money available to incarcerate
offenders and the escalating costs of incarceration. "Agency administrators
began to realize that they had to help one another if they hoped to have
any chance of saving money," Lane says. "What attracted us to Project
RIO was precisely its ability to get three different agencies with different
missions to work together on a mutual concern--getting inmates ready for
life after prison."

Georgia has faced different challenges in establishing collaboration than
Texas because Georgia's Board of Pardons and Parole is completely
independent of its Department of Corrections. As a result, while the task
force has already negotiated an agreement between the Board of Pardons
and Parole and the Department of Labor, the Department of Corrections
has yet to sign the agreement. In addition, the Department of Corrections
has recently abandoned its in-prison school system, dismissing its teaching
staff and privatizing the operation. As a result, the task force must
negotiate with contract teachers and administrators who are no longer
prison employees.

Lane says the task force has established two main goals in replicating
Project RIO. First, the Department of Corrections and the Board of
Pardons and Parole will work together to ensure that--as in Texas--inmates
come out of prison with official picture identifications, birth certificates,
Social Security cards, rsums, and other documents they and their parole
officers must have in hand to begin the search for work immediately upon
release. 

According to Lane, "RIO woke us up to the realization that inmates may
get academic and vocational education and may work in prison industries,
but no one captures all the essential employment-related documentation
and provides it to parole officers to use in helping inmates to get jobs after
release." As a result, some parolees beg off finding a job, claiming they
cannot look for work because they lack the proper documents. At the same
time, idleness and lack of income predispose many of them to slip back
into abusing alcohol and drugs and committing new crimes.

Georgia's second goal is to install the State Department of Labor's job
search program software--the most up-to-date and comprehensive source
of information on job openings in the State--on every parole office
computer.

The task force is pilot testing the collaboration in 25 counties of northeast
Georgia, where an unusually high percentage of parolees are unemployed.
Lane is testing whether parolees who come out of prison with all the
necessary documentation find jobs more quickly than parolees without
their paperwork in order. Additional initiatives will determine whether
Department of Labor county representatives can help parolees find jobs.

Lane reports that very little money is being used to set up the arrangement.
While new funds have been allocated for Lane and his two-person staff to
operate the collaboration, other State employees will participate as part of
their existing job responsibilities.