A SUCCESSFUL 

PRISONER 

REENTRY 

PROGRAM 

EXPANDS 

Lessons from the Replication of 

the Center for Employment Opportunities

Joseph Broadus

Sara Muller-Ravett

Arielle Sherman

Cindy Redcross

January 2016

A Successful Prisoner 

Reentry Program 

Expands

Lessons from the Replication of the

Center for Employment Opportunities

Joseph Broadus

Sara Muller-Ravett

Arielle Sherman

Cindy Redcross

JANUARY 2016
FUNDERS

This report is based upon work supported by the Social Innovation Fund, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation’s 

Social Innovation Fund includes support from CNCS and 15 private coinvestors: The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Duke Endowment, The William and 

Flora Hewlett Foundation, The JPB Foundation, George Kaiser 

Family Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Open Society Foundations, The Penzance Foundation, The Samberg Family Foundation, The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, 

The Starr Foundation, Tipping Point Community, The Wallace 

Foundation, and the Weingart Foundation.

Dissemination of MDRC publications is supported by the following funders that help finance MDRC’s public policy outreach and 

expanding efforts to communicate the results and implications 

of our work to policymakers, practitioners, and others: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family 

Foundation, The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Ford Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, Daniel and Corinne Goldman, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc., The 

JBP Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, 

Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Sandler Foundation, and 

The Starr Foundation.

In addition, earnings from the MDRC Endowment help sustain 

our dissemination efforts. Contributors to the MDRC Endowment include Alcoa Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Anheuser-Busch Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ford Foundation, The 

George Gund Foundation, The Grable Foundation, The Lizabeth 

and Frank Newman Charitable Foundation, The New York Times 

Company Foundation, Jan Nicholson, Paul H. O’Neill Charitable 

Foundation, John S. Reed, Sandler Foundation, and The Stupski 

Family Fund, as well as other individual contributors.

The findings and conclusions in this report do not necessarily 

represent the official positions or policies of the funders.

For information about MDRC and copies of our publications, 

see our website: www.mdrc.org. 

Copyright © 2016 by MDRC®. All rights reserved.
OVERVIEW

T

his report presents results from a fidelity assessment and implementation analysis of five 

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) replication programs in New York, California, 

and Oklahoma. Between 2004 and 2010, MDRC conducted a rigorous random assignment 

evaluation of the original CEO program as part of the Enhanced Services for the Hardto-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services. The evaluation found that CEO was effective at reducing recidivism rates — the rates at 

which participants committed new crimes or were reincarcerated — among important subgroups 

of its participant population. Based in part on these findings, the CEO program was selected by 

the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in 2011 to be part of its Social Innovation Fund and receive 

funding and technical assistance to expand and replicate the model in various locations across the 

United States. 

Based in New York City, CEO is one of the nation’s largest transitional jobs programs for former 

prisoners. The program offers participants temporary, paid jobs, along with employment counseling and other services, all aimed at making them more employable and preventing their return to 

prison. The current study describes how the model was replicated in other locations, assesses its 

implementation in various contexts, and reports on findings from a qualitative study of participants’ 

perceptions of and experiences in the CEO program. The findings presented in this report focus 

on the implementation of CEO’s core elements at the replication sites and provide a description of 

participants’ experience with the program. One additional goal of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of which aspects of the CEO model may have contributed to the reductions in recidivism 

found in the initial evaluation of the New York City program. 

This report’s findings include the following:

•

•

•

•

Overall, the replication programs operated with high fidelity to the original program model.

Participants in replication programs engaged in CEO activities at similar rates as did participants

in New York City, although replication programs did a better job of moving participants through

the model’s early stages and into working with the staff to obtain unsubsidized employment.

Participants said that the program’s most essential and distinctive elements were its structure

and the support of its staff members.

While CEO work crews offered some opportunities for skills training, they functioned primarily

as jobs, with the habits and competencies that make for a good employee emphasized through the

routine of reporting for work each day, cooperating with colleagues, and following supervisors’

directions.

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | iii

CONTENTS

OVERVIEW iii

LIST OF EXHIBITS vii

PREFACE ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES-1

CHAPTER

1

Introduction 1

The Social Innovation Fund 1

Background on the Problem and CEO’s Evidence 3

This Report 6

Methods, Data Sources, and Participant Characteristics 9

2 Introduction 9

Methods Used to Assess Fidelity and Implementation 10

Data Sources 12

Baseline Characteristics of Program Participants 16

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model 19 3 Introduction 19

Overview of the CEO Model 20

CEO Institutional Structure and Staffing 22

Recruitment and Enrollment 22

Implementation of Core Program Components 23

Conclusion 34

Participant Perspectives on the CEO Experience 35 4 Introduction 35

Description of Tables and Measures 35

Findings from Questionnaires and Interviews 37

Conclusion 43

5

Conclusion 45

Integrating Employment and Reentry 47

Summary and Looking Ahead 48

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | v
CONTENTS (CONTINUED)

APPENDIX

A The Process of Replicating CEO: An Account from CEO’s Executive

Director, Sam Schaeffer 49

B Supplementary Exhibits for Chapter 2 59

C Supplementary Tables for Chapter 3 71

D Supplementary Tables for Chapter 4 83

REFERENCES 87

EARLIER MDRC PUBLICATIONS ON THE CENTER FOR EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES 89

v i | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
LIST OF EXHIBITS

TABLE

ES.1 Participation in CEO Activities: Replication Programs

Compared with the New York City Program ES-7

1.1 History of CEO Expansion 3

2.1 Profile of CEO’s Programs at the Time of the Initial Site Visit, by City 12

2.2 Data Sources in the CEO Replication Study 13

2.3 Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants, by Program 17

3.1 Participation in CEO Activities: Replication Programs Compared with

the New York City Program 27

3.2 Work-Site Supervisors’ Perceptions of Their Role 30

3.3 Job Developer Tasks and Responsibilities 33

4.1 Participants’ Outlook on Employment and Well-Being 36

4.2 Participants’ Perspectives on Support, Relationships, and Preparation

for Future Employment 37

4.3 Participants’ Other Reflections on CEO 38

B.1 Participant and Staff Questionnaire Response Rates 67

B.2 Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants: Each Replication Program

Compared with New York City 68

B.3 Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants: All Replication Programs

Compared with New York City 69

C.1 Participation in CEO Activities: Each Replication Program Compared

with New York City 73

C.2 Participant Experiences, by Program 75

C.3 Program Staff Questionnaire Responses 80

D.1 Participant Questionnaire Responses 85

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | vii
TABLE

D.2 Program Staff Background Characteristics 86

FIGURE

ES.1 CEO Conceptual Model ES-4

3.1 CEO Conceptual Model 21

B.1 CEO Replication Rating Matrix 61

BOX

ES.1 Program Elements Measured for Fidelity ES-6

1.1 The EMCF Social Innovation Fund 2

1.2 Pay for Success 7

2.1 Program Elements Measured for Fidelity 11

3.1 Life Skills Education Class 24

3.2 Examples of Transitional Work Sites and Tasks Performed 25

3.3 Plugging In 26

3.4 Passport to Success 31

A.1 Criminal Justice Realignment 52

A.2 Testing an Affiliate Approach to Expansion 56

LIST OF EXHIBITS (CONTINUED)

viii | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
PREFACE

A

lthough the nation’s prison population has declined slightly in the recent past, the United 

States continues to lead the world in incarceration. Former prisoners face a range of challenges to successful reentry into the community, and rates of recidivism — the rates at 

which they commit new crimes or are reincarcerated — are high. Recidivism imposes huge 

social and fiscal costs on families, communities, and taxpayers. In this context, there is a pressing 

need to identify effective models for making the reentry process more successful. 

Studies have shown a correlation between higher employment and lower recidivism. Employment can 

help pave the way to better housing conditions and help ex-prisoners forge better relationships with 

their families and communities. However, it is difficult to find a job after serving a prison sentence. 

Many formerly incarcerated individuals find it difficult to break into the workforce because they have 

limited school and work histories, which make them less appealing to potential employers. Reentry 

initiatives in recent years have sought to address that lack of work history. Transitional jobs give 

formerly incarcerated individuals both recent work experience and a source of legitimate income in 

the critical months following their release, and help participants build basic work skills and behaviors before they seek jobs in the regular labor market. The Center for Employment Opportunities 

(CEO), based in New York City, is one of the nation’s largest and most highly regarded transitional 

jobs programs.

Between 2004 and 2010, MDRC conducted a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the New 

York City CEO program. The three-year evaluation showed large increases in employment during 

the first year of follow-up, while participants had their transitional jobs. Those impacts faded the 

longer participants were out of the program, but significant reductions in recidivism persisted despite the fading effect on employment. It is likely that this recidivism effect resulted in part from the 

structure and employment participants received from CEO after their release from prison. Based on 

these findings, CEO and MDRC worked together to strengthen CEO’s job placement component, to 

improve its ability to help participants make the transition to unsubsidized employment.

This report describes the implementation of five CEO replication programs in New York State, 

California, and Oklahoma. Sponsored by the Social Innovation Fund, the study evaluates replication 

programs’ fidelity to the original CEO model and supplements the evidence from the earlier evaluation of CEO with a more in-depth look at participants’ experiences. It is hoped that this research 

will provide criminal justice researchers and practitioners with evidence they can use to improve 

transitional jobs programs for returning prisoners.

Gordon L. Berlin 

President, MDRC

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | i x

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T

his report is based on work supported by the Social Innovation Fund, a program of the 

Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The Social Innovation Fund 

combines public and private resources with the goal of increasing the impact of innovative, 

community-based solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people 

in low-income communities throughout the United States. We particularly thank Gabriel Rhodes 

and Bob Granger from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation’s Social Innovation Fund for their 

support throughout the project.

For their help in scheduling site visits and participating in several interviews on-site and in the 

months following site visits, we thank Dave Covey in Albany, NY, Jeff Conrad in Buffalo, NY, Anisa 

Mendizabel in Rochester, NY, Keiara Auzenne in San Diego, CA, and Kelly Doyle in Tulsa, OK. This 

report would not have been possible without their cooperation and the cooperation of their staff 

members. We also thank Bill Heiser at the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) for talking through the ways replication programs were established in California and elsewhere, and Mick 

Munoz for welcoming MDRC staff members to the New York City program on several occasions and 

setting up introductions and interviews with staff members and participants throughout the evaluation. We are also indebted to Terry Salo and her colleagues at the Department of Criminal Justice 

Statistics for offering critical background information on the criminal justice and reentry context 

in New York State. Finally, we are especially thankful to Sam Schaeffer at CEO for his contribution 

to this report and his consultations throughout the research and report-drafting process. 

We would also like to extend a particular thanks to all of the CEO participants who spoke with 

MDRC staff members and shared their stories and perspectives during site visits and in interviews 

over the course of the study. Their willingness to speak openly about their lives, goals, challenges, 

and successes made this report immeasurably richer than it otherwise could have been.

At MDRC, we are grateful to many people’s valuable contributions to this project. David Butler played 

a large role in conducting site visits and helping with the design and analysis of the study. We thank 

Bret Barden, Brian Bayes, Shirley James, and Sally Dai for processing and analyzing the baseline 

and participation data presented in this report and Melanie Skemer for her hard work developing 

staff and participant questionnaire materials and analyzing questionnaire results. Mifta Chowdhury 

assisted in the administration of participant and staff questionnaires and Janaé Bonsu coordinated 

the production of the report. We are also very grateful to the people who reviewed this report and 

advised us on it: Dan Bloom, Rob Ivry, and John Hutchins. Lastly, we would like to thank MDRC’s 

publications staff. Joshua Malbin edited the report, and Carolyn Thomas prepared it for publication.

The Authors

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | x i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), based in New York City, is one of the nation’s largest transitional jobs programs for former prisoners. The program offers participants temporary, paid 

jobs, along with employment counseling and other services aimed at making them more employable 

and preventing their return to prison. Between 2004 and 2010, MDRC conducted a rigorous random 

assignment evaluation of the program as part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ 

Demonstration and Evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 

evaluation found that CEO was effective at reducing recidivism rates — the rates at which participants committed new crimes or were reincarcerated — among important subgroups of its participant 

population. Based in part on these findings, the CEO program was expanded to several additional 

cities around the country with financial assistance from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and 

the Social Innovation Fund. 

This report presents results from a fidelity assessment and implementation analysis of five CEO 

replication programs in New York, California, and Oklahoma. The findings presented here focus 

on how the replication programs implemented CEO’s core elements and provide a description of 

participants’ experience. One additional goal of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of which 

aspects of the CEO model may have contributed to the recidivism reductions found in the initial 

evaluation of the New York City program. 

BACKGROUND ON CEO AND RESEARCH ON EMPLOYMENT 

AND RECIDIVISM

Over the past three decades, incarceration has increased dramatically in the United States. Although 

the prison population has leveled off or declined in recent years, the proportion of Americans who 

are involved in the criminal justice system (in prison or jail or under probation or parole supervision) remains far above the rate that prevailed for most of the 20th century.1

 Former prisoners face a 

range of challenges in reentering the community, and rates of recidivism remain high. Within three 

1. Nathan James, The Federal Prison Population Buildup: Overview, Policy Changes, Issues, and Options (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Research Service, 2014). Jails are locally operated, short-term facilities used to detain people who 

are awaiting trial and those who are serving sentences of less than one year. Prisons are long-term facilities run by 

the state or the federal government that typically hold felons and inmates with sentences of more than one year. 

Probation and parole are both forms of community supervision. Probation typically occurs as an alternative to 

incarceration in jail or prison, but it can also be built into a sentence to follow a period of incarceration. Parole refers 

to a period of supervision following an early release from prison. In both cases, supervision entails a range of rules 

and reporting requirements, the violation of which can result in a variety of penalties.

Executive Summary | ES-1
years of being released, two-thirds of former prisoners are arrested again and half return to prison.2

Such high recidivism takes a serious toll on families and communities and imposes high costs on 

taxpayers. There is a pressing need to identify effective models for reintegrating former prisoners 

into society, lowering recidivism rates, and establishing paths to self-sufficiency. 

Various studies have shown a correlation between higher employment and lower recidivism.3

 For 

people returning from prison, employment can help pave the way to better housing and improved 

relationships within their families and communities. Unfortunately, it is a major challenge for former 

prisoners to find a steady job upon release. In addition to the stigma of a criminal record, most people 

returning from prison also have other attributes — such as limited school and work histories — that 

make them less appealing to potential employers.4

 When they are able to secure work, many have 

competing demands on their time from drug-treatment programs, curfews, or other restrictions on 

mobility that can make it harder to keep a full-time job.

MDRC’s previous studies on the New York City CEO program found mixed results: The program 

proved cost-effective and led to significant reductions in recidivism, but did not lead to long-term 

employment gains. Nonetheless, the impacts on recidivism were impressive (particularly given the 

difficulty other transitional jobs programs serving the formerly incarcerated had in achieving the 

same result), and raised questions about what aspects of CEO may have been driving the effect.5

This report aims to build on that understanding by offering more detail on the CEO model and the 

experiences of participants who went through the program. 

THE CEO MODEL 

CEO’s model is based on the assumption that people recently released from prison have an immediate need for stable income and employment. Although there is some variation from one program 

to the next, in every location the core services are the same: participants are provided with a basic 

job-readiness and life-skills class for one week and then are quickly placed in temporary jobs in 

small work crews performing structured tasks, for which they receive a daily paycheck. Participants 

work three to four days on the work crews and spend the fifth day in the CEO office, meeting with 

2. Matthew R. Durose, Alexia D. Cooper, and Howard N. Snyder, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 30 States in 2005: 

Patterns from 2005 to 2010 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014).

3. See, for example, Christopher Uggen, “Work As A Turning Point in the Life Course of Criminals: A Duration Model of 

Age, Employment, and Recidivism,” American Sociological Review 67 (2000): 529-546; David B. Wilson, Catherine A. 

Gallagher, and Doris MacKenzie, “A Meta-Analysis of Corrections-Based Education, Vocation, and Work Programs for 

Adult Offenders,” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 37, 4 (2000): 347-368; Edward J. Latessa, “Why Work 

Is Important, and How to Improve the Effectiveness of Correctional Reentry Programs that Target Employment,” 

Criminology and Public Policy 11, 1 (2012): 87-91.

4. Harry J. Holzer, Steven Raphael, and Michael A. Stoll, “Employment Barriers Facing Ex-Offenders,” Reentry 

Roundtable Discussion Paper (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2003); Devah Pager, “The Mark of a Criminal 

Record,” American Journal of Sociology 108, 5 (2003): 937-975.

5. Cindy Redcross, Dan Bloom, and Erin Jacobs (MDRC); Alford A. Young, Jr., and Kristin Seefeldt (Gerald R. Ford School 

of Public Policy); and Michelle Manno, Sara Muller-Ravett, Jennifer Yahner, and Janine Zweig (Urban Institute), Work 

After Prison: One-Year Findings from the Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration (New York: MDRC, 2010).

ES-2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
job coaches or job developers who help participants obtain unsubsidized jobs in the private sector. 

(The role of a CEO job coach is to work with new participants and those who are not considered 

“job-start ready,” helping them get ready to search and interview for unsubsidized positions while 

in transitional jobs. Job developers focus on moving participants into permanent employment by 

working with both outside employers and participants.) 

Participants’ daily performance on work crews is evaluated by work-site supervisors through the 

use of a “Passport to Success,” which participants can show to potential employers when they apply 

for jobs. Bonus payments called “Rapid Rewards” are offered to former participants as incentives to 

stick with jobs they obtain after going through the CEO program. 

Figure ES.1 illustrates the model’s conceptual framework, showing the components of the intervention and how those components are intended to lead — through stability, positive peer and staff 

influences, short-term employment, and work-readiness training — to long-term improvements in 

employment and reduced recidivism. Specifically, the program’s intervention of daily paid work along 

with job-search assistance, interview preparation, and training in workplace expectations is expected 

to improve participants’ stability, incomes, and job readiness. The thinking is that these short-term 

changes during the critical period immediately following release from prison will ultimately lead 

to longer-term employment gains, improved attitudes and behaviors, and reductions in recidivism.

REPLICATING CEO AND ASSESSING FIDELITY

The replication of CEO’s program model outside of New York City took place as a part of the Social 

Innovation Fund (SIF), a federal initiative aimed at expanding and replicating promising program 

models serving socially and economically disadvantaged communities. The SIF is administered 

by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation 

has responsibility for selecting models for replication and providing matching funds to assist their 

expansion to a larger scale. CEO is one of 12 evidence-based programs selected in 2011 to be part 

of the SIF and receive funding and technical assistance to replicate its model in other cities around 

the country.6

In expanding the program, CEO leaders looked for cities that had a clear need (meaning that CEO’s 

services would fill a niche among local reentry providers); a sufficient number of people returning 

home on parole for CEO to serve at least 150 people a year; support from local stakeholders (including 

a strong champion in a government position); and partners to provide transitional jobs to work crews. 

In 2011 MDRC began a fidelity assessment of those CEO replication programs that were fully 

operational. As new programs got off the ground, they were added to the assessment. Ultimately 

all five replication programs that became operational during the study time frame were included. 

6. EMCF matched $30 million from the SIF with $30 million from its own endowment and, through the True North 

Fund, developed by EMCF in 2011, helped the 12 SIF grantees secure the $60 million they were required by statute 

to raise to match this funding.

Executive Summary | ES-3
FIGURE ES.1 CEO Conceptual Model

COMPONENTS OF INTERVENTION

Participants will receive all core components of the CEO program including:• • • • • • • 

Preemployment life-skills classTransitional jobs work crewsJob coachingPassport to SuccessJob placementJob retention servicesWork support

MEDIATING OUTCOMES

1. Higher rates of employment due to 

CEO transitional jobs

2. Higher income levels due to higher 

employment rates

3. Improved readiness for work and soft 

skills

4. Improved stability in critical period 

after release due to employment and income

5. Structure and positive sta

ff and peer 

infl ences through daily work

6. Reduced short-term recidivism and 

violations of supervision conditions, due to income and stability in the critical period after release

LONG-TE

1. Increased uns2. Improved job 

employment 

3. Employment 

potential

4. Reduced reci

employment short-term re

• • • 

No arrestsNo convictNo reincar

ES-4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
MDRC staff members visited the programs and conducted a series of interviews with program staff 

members and managers, participants, and service and referral partners. MDRC determined whether 

replication programs were faithful to the New York City model using a structured process developed 

in consultation with CEO leaders. This process was designed to focus on aspects of the model that 

CEO leaders deemed “essential.” These core program elements are shown in Box ES.1, and the full 

fidelity assessment instrument is included with the full text of this report as Appendix B.1.

MAIN FINDINGS 

In addition to assessing programs’ fidelity to the original program model, research visits also focused 

on gaining a deeper understanding of which components of the CEO model — or combination of 

components — may have contributed the most to the reductions in recidivism found in the initial 

evaluation. To that end, the research team conducted a series of conversations with stakeholders 

(including representatives from mental health providers, other job training centers and nonprofit 

organizations, staff members in the local district attorney’s office, parole and probation agencies, and 

employers); administered questionnaires to program staff members and participants; and engaged 

over a dozen participants in in-depth interviews focused on their path to CEO and their experience 

with its services. 

This report’s findings include the following:

• 

• 

Overall, replication programs operated with high fidelity to the original model. Despite dramatic differences in scale relative to the New York City program, participants in all replication 

programs received similar orientation messages, performed similar work-crew tasks, and had 

similar experiences with job counseling and on-site supervision. Most of the variation that did 

occur owed to the size of the programs: Outside of New York City, the CEO programs were much 

smaller, typically serving about 250 to 400 people per year, compared with over 2,500 served in 

New York City. 

Participants in replication programs engaged in CEO activities at similar rates as participants 

in New York City, although replication programs did a better job of moving more participants 

through the early stages and into working with a job developer to obtain unsubsidized employment. Across all the programs, between about 80 percent and 90 percent of participants made it 

through the initial Life Skills activities and into a transitional job, and the average time worked 

in these jobs was typically around 20-23 days. As shown in Table ES.1, the primary differences 

in participant engagement between replication programs and the New York City program were 

that more participants in replication programs were deemed ready to work with a job developer 

on finding an unsubsidized job (about 75 percent across the replication programs compared with 

about 65 percent in New York City) and more were placed in unsubsidized jobs and received at 

least one Rapid Rewards bonus (92 percent in the replication programs and 75 percent in New 

York City). These rates suggest that the program was placing more emphasis on the transition 

to unsubsidized employment, one of the main enhancements suggested by the original MDRC 

evaluation of the New York City program. 

Executive Summary | ES-5
ES-6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
TABLE ES.1 Participation in CEO Activities: Replication Programs

Compared with the New York City Program

OUTCOME

NEW YORK

CITY

REPLICATION 

PROGRAMS

Ever worked in a CEO transitional job (%) 88.4 79.3 ***

Assessed for job-start readiness (%) 88.2 85.9 **

Determined to be job-start ready (%) 64.5 75.8 ***

Met with a job coach (%) 81.7 76.9 ***

Met with a job developer (%) 56.4 71.8 ***

AMONG THOSE WHO WORKED IN A CEO TRANSITIONAL JOB

Days worked in a CEO transitional joba (%) ***

1-10 33.7 37.5

11-20 20.5 25.0

21-30 14.0 14.8

31-40 11.6 9.5

More than 41 20.2 13.2

Average number of days worked in a CEO transitional job 23.2 19.9 ***

Average number of meetings with job coach 3.2 1.5 ***

Average number of meetings with job developer 3.8 3.7

Total weeks of active engagement with programb 13.2 10.9 ***

Placed in an unsubsidized jobc (%) 34.7 50.0 ***

AMONG THOSE WHO WERE PLACED IN AN UNSUBSIDIZED JOB

Unsubsidized job characteristics

Average starting wage ($) 9.72 9.19 ***

Hours per week 33.5 35.8 ***

Employer-provided benefits (%) 17.7 29.2 ***

Ever received a Rapid Rewards paymentd (%) 75.2 92.2 ***

AMONG THOSE WHO RECEIVED A RAPID REWARDS PAYMENT

Number of Rapid Rewards paymentsd 2.8 5.7 ***

Total amount of Rapid Rewards paymentsd ($) 177.81 172.89

Sample size 2,560 1,668

(continued)

Executive Summary | ES-7
TABLE ES.1 (continued)

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from CEO’s management information system.

NOTES: The samples from all programs include people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and 

September 2013. To assess differences in participation between the New York City program and the 

replication programs, chi-square tests were used for categorical variables and two-tailed t-tests were used 

for continuous variables. Statistical significance levels are indicated as follows: *** = 1 percent; ** = 5 percent; 

* = 10 percent. See Appendix Table B.1 for a comparison of each individual replication program with the New 

York City program. 

 a

Days worked may not be consecutive.

 b

This measure is calculated from the date of first enrollment to the date of first placement in an 

unsubsidized job, or to the last date of employment in a CEO transitional job.

 c

This includes unsubsidized employment placements by CEO and self-placement employment that CEO 

was made aware of or that the client reported to CEO.

 d

This measure reflects whether individuals received Rapid Rewards in the 12 months following enrollment 

into CEO. It includes only people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and March 30, 2013 to allow for 

12 months of follow-up, as individuals can receive Rapid Rewards for up to six months following placement 

into an unsubsidized job.

• 

• 

Participants said that the program’s most essential and distinguishing elements were its 

structure and the support of the staff members. In-depth interviews, semistructured interviews 

on work sites, and questionnaires administered to active participants collectively suggested that 

participants found the formal structure of the program to be particularly valuable, saying that the 

program balanced concern for their long-term employment goals with their short-term financial 

needs. The coupling of daily, paid work with office-based employment support provided stability 

during a critical and challenging time in participants’ lives.

Participants and staff members expressed different views of the value of the CEO experience 

in affecting personal behavior outside of work. While staff members reported that CEO work 

crews function primarily as jobs that allow participants to build work experience and learn appropriate workplace behavior, participants reported receiving valuable advice and support that 

they applied in their personal lives. Interestingly, participants reported receiving both personal 

and professional advice from supervisors at much higher rates than supervisors reported providing 

it. One of the goals of this study was to clarify the nature of the work crew experience, including the role of work-site supervisors and the degree to which work crew participants received 

mentorship or skill development. Interviews, questionnaires, and observations suggest that the 

crews primarily focused on accomplishing the task at hand and that most supervisors saw the 

role as managerial first (with some disregarding the notion of mentorship). Participants generally 

appreciated the work orientation and anticipated that the crew experience would be valuable to 

them in their future jobs. 

ES-8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
CONCLUSION

The primary goals for this study were (1) to assess the degree to which five CEO replication programs 

were able to implement the CEO model with fidelity to the New York City program, (2) to examine 

whether CEO was succeeding in revamping its approach to helping participants obtain unsubsidized 

jobs, and (3) to explore more fully the mechanisms that may have led to the impacts on recidivism 

found in the earlier random assignment study of the New York City program. The findings from 

this study confirm that the five replication programs have been effective in implementing the core 

components of the model. Despite minor variations in the delivery of services, the research team 

found that all core components were in place in the replication programs and that participants across 

the replication programs received comparable services and experiences.

Going into this assessment, one important hypothesis held that CEO may have achieved its earlier 

impacts because the work crews offered a forum for mentoring or coaching that led to changes in participants’ attitudes and behaviors, ultimately leading to reductions in crime. Interestingly, participants 

and staff members responded differently to questions on this topic. Although staff members generally defined their roles narrowly and did not set out to provide mentoring or advice to participants, 

participants reported that they did receive support and guidance from staff members that they were 

able to apply to their lives outside of CEO. Questionnaire and interview responses suggest that crew 

supervisors saw their role as managers first and only delivered coaching or mentoring incidentally 

and as appropriate. Overall, though, interviews and questionnaires with participants suggested that 

it was chiefly the structure and the daily pay of the program that were its most valuable elements. 

The expansion and evaluation of CEO’s model will continue beyond the publication of this report. 

In 2013, CEO was awarded a $12 million Pay for Success grant from the U.S. Department of Labor 

to continue to deliver and evaluate the effectiveness of its services in New York City and Rochester. 

The Pay for Success project involves a random assignment evaluation that will yield early results in 

the next few years, offering valuable information to the field about how the findings from the first 

random assignment study might be replicated and whether improvements in CEO’s targeting strategies lead to even larger reductions in recidivism. CEO also continues to build upon the hypothesis 

mentioned in the previous paragraph by seeking ways to train staff members to address thinking and 

behaviors directly. For example, MDRC is currently working with CEO to pilot test and evaluate an 

innovative cognitive behavioral therapy curriculum to address thinking and behavior change more 

deliberately in the context of employment for former prisoners.

Executive Summary | ES-9

CH

1

APTER 

Introduction

T

his report presents findings from an in-depth fidelity and implementation study of five 

programs replicating the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), a large and highly 

regarded transitional employment program in New York City. Over the past several years, 

CEO began replicating its model in several locations in upstate New York, Oklahoma, 

California, and Pennsylvania. The New York City CEO program was rigorously evaluated as part 

of an earlier random assignment study and was found to be effective at reducing recidivism rates — 

the rates at which participants committed new crimes or were reincarcerated — among important 

subgroups of its participant population. The program was also effective at increasing employment 

early in the follow-up period, while participants were working in the transitional jobs, but these 

increases could be attributed to the program jobs themselves and were not sustained in the long 

run. The current study describes how the model was replicated in other locations, assesses its implementation in various contexts, and reports on findings from a qualitative study of participants’ 

perceptions and experiences. 

This study is likely to be of particular interest to those who have followed the evaluation evidence of 

the first CEO study and other recent and ongoing studies of transitional jobs programs. In this report 

they will see how CEO has adjusted to meet the demands of expanding to a larger scale, while simultaneously building upon and making operational the lessons of the earlier evaluation. CEO’s heavy 

involvement with the growing Social Impact Bond movement adds further relevance to the study.

THE SOCIAL INNOVATION FUND

This study is funded by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF) as part of the Social 

Innovation Fund (SIF). The SIF is an important federal initiative designed to promote the expansion 

and replication of promising programs to improve the economic opportunities and development of 

individuals and communities. The Corporation for National and Community Service administers 

the fund and EMCF is one of the intermediaries responsible for identifying and selecting promising 

interventions and providing matching funds to help the programs replicate their models and expand 

them to a larger scale (see Box 1.1).1

1. For more information about the Social Innovation Fund see Corporation for National and Community Service (2015) 

or Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (2015).

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 1
2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

The Center for Employment Opportunities is 1 of 12 evidence-based programs selected by EMCF in 

2011 to be part of the three-year SIF effort and receive funding and technical assistance to replicate 

its model in various locations across the United States. Between 2011 and 2012, with the assistance 

of the SIF, CEO began operating replication programs in New York State, Oklahoma, and California. 

As part of the SIF, MDRC was asked to conduct a fidelity study of five replication programs. This 

report describes the results from that study. Table 1.1 outlines CEO’s expansion over the course of 

the SIF replication and lists the locations evaluated in the study.
TABLE 1.1 History of CEO Expansion

2. James (2014). Jails are locally operated, short-term facilities used to detain people who are awaiting trial and those 

who are serving sentences of less than one year. Prisons are long-term facilities run by the state or the federal 

government that typically hold felons and inmates with sentences of more than one year. Probation and parole 

are both forms of community supervision. Probation typically occurs as an alternative to incarceration in jail 

or prison, but it can also be built into a sentence to follow a period of incarceration. Parole refers to a period of 

supervision following an early release from prison. In both cases, supervision entails a range of rules and reporting 

requirements, the violation of which can result in a variety of penalties.

3. Durose, Cooper, and Snyder (2014).

4. See, for example, Uggen (2000); Wilson, Gallagher, and MacKenzie (2000); Latessa (2012).

BACKGROUND ON THE PROBLEM AND CEO’S EVIDENCE 

Over the past three decades, incarceration has increased dramatically in the United States. Although 

the nation’s prison population has leveled off or declined slightly in the recent past, the proportion 

of Americans who are involved in the criminal justice system (in prison or jail or under probation or parole supervision) remains far above the rate that prevailed for most of the 20th century.2

Former prisoners face a range of challenges to successful reentry into the community, and rates of 

recidivism are high. Within three years of their release, two-thirds are arrested and half return to 

prison.3

 Recidivism imposes huge costs on taxpayers, families, and communities. There is a pressing need to identify effective models for promoting behavioral change among individuals involved 

in the justice system. 

The relationship between employment and recidivism is complicated and research regarding that 

relationship is mixed. However, studies have shown a correlation between higher employment and 

lower recidivism.4

 Employment can help former prisoners obtain better housing and improve their 

relationships within their families and communities. Unfortunately, it is a major challenge for former 

prisoners to find a steady job upon release. In addition to a criminal record, most recently released 

people have other attributes, such as limited schooling and work history, that make them less appealing to potential employers. They may have competing demands on their time from drug-treatment 

PRE-SIF

June 30, 2011

and before

BEGINNING OF THE SIF

July 1, 2011 to

January 31, 2012

LATER-STAGE SIF

August 1, 2013

POST-SIF

July 1, 2015 to 

December 30, 2015

CITIES INCLUDED IN 

THE EVALUATION AS 

PART OF THE SIF

REPLICATION

New York City, NY

Albany, NY

Buffalo, NY

Rochester, NY

Syracuse, NY

Tulsa, OK

Oakland, CA

San Diego, CA

Binghamton, NY

San Bernardino, CA

Oklahoma City, OK

Philadelphia, PA

San Jose, CA

Albany, NY

Buffalo, NY

Rochester, NY

San Diego, CA

Tulsa, OK

Introduction | 3
programs, and curfews or other restrictions on mobility that can make it harder to find and keep a 

full-time job. Further, formerly incarcerated people are legally barred from working in certain occupations and many employers are reluctant to hire people with criminal records.5

In recent years, many states and localities have developed multifaceted prisoner reentry initiatives. 

Reentry initiatives often include a range of services and other forms of support, but almost all include 

a strong emphasis on employment. The transitional jobs model has been particularly attractive because it gives formerly incarcerated individuals a source of legitimate income in the critical months 

following release and provides staff members with an opportunity to help participants build basic 

work skills and behaviors before they seek jobs in the regular labor market.6

 CEO, originally based 

in New York City, is one of the nation’s largest and most highly regarded transitional jobs programs 

for formerly incarcerated people. The program serves nearly 4,500 people each year and provides 

immediate paid work to individuals returning to the community after being released from prison. 

Individuals are referred by their parole officers and are placed in paid jobs immediately after completing an initial weeklong preemployment class. City and state agencies have contracts with CEO 

for work crews who perform maintenance and repair functions at more than 30 sites around the city. 

These crews consist of CEO participants and are supervised by a CEO staff member. Participants also 

receive assistance in finding unsubsidized jobs from office-based job coaches and job developers.7

Between 2004 and 2010, MDRC conducted a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the New 

York City CEO program.8 The three-year evaluation results showed that participation in CEO led 

to significant reductions in important measures of recidivism, including a 65 percent reduction in 

violent crime. The largest impacts occurred among former prisoners who had been released from 

prison within the previous 90 days and among those at relatively high risk of recidivism when they 

enrolled in the program.9

 CEO produced large increases in overall employment during the first year 

of follow-up, largely the result of the CEO transitional jobs. There were few impacts on unsubsidized 

employment, though there was some evidence of increases in employment stability after participants 

left the program, also concentrated among the recently released subgroup.10

In the past decade, a total of five large-scale random assignment studies have been conducted of 

transitional jobs programs serving individuals who were recently released from prison (including 

the CEO study).11 These evaluations found that, like CEO, the other transitional jobs programs also 

5. Holzer, Raphael, and Stoll (2003); Pager (2003). 

6. For more information on the transitional jobs model, see Heartland Alliance (2014) and Bloom (2010).

7. The role of a CEO job coach is to work with new participants and those who are not considered “job-start ready,” 

helping them get ready to search and interview for unsubsidized positions while in transitional jobs. Job developers 

focus on moving participants into permanent employment by working with both outside employers and 

participants.

8. CEO was one of four programs included in the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration, funded 

by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

9. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012); Zweig, Yahner, and Redcross (2011).

10. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012).

11. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012); Redcross et al. (2010).

4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
produced very large increases in employment initially. The employment rates for people who had 

access to the transitional jobs programs were typically 40 percentage points or 50 percentage points 

higher than the rates for those assigned to the control groups, who usually received low-intensity 

help looking for unsubsidized jobs. These findings confirm that the programs provided jobs to many 

people who would not otherwise have worked in the formal economy. But the large initial effects 

could be attributed almost exclusively to the transitional jobs themselves and the employment gains 

disappeared when those jobs ended. Within one year after enrollment, the program and control 

groups’ employment rates were the same and they remained that way through the rest of the two- or 

three-year follow-up periods.

Interestingly, unlike CEO, the four other programs had no statistically significant impact on recidivism (arrests, convictions, or reincarceration). This was true even in the early months of follow-up, 

when the program group was substantially more likely to be working than the control group. At a 

minimum, this pattern indicates that the connection between work and crime is not straightforward, 

despite the correlational results described earlier.

There are many possible reasons why CEO lowered recidivism when other transitional jobs programs 

did not. One potential explanation relates to the structure of CEO’s transitional jobs, where participants are placed in small crews closely supervised by a CEO staff member. The four other transitional 

jobs programs did not use this model. It may be that the interpersonal dynamic within a crew, or 

the relationship between the supervisor and the participants, led to the kind of changes in attitudes 

that criminologists believe are necessary to lower recidivism. The study did not explicitly test for 

these effects, but a survey showed that program group members were more likely than control group 

members to report that there was a person in their lives they could turn to for advice and support.

Criminal justice researchers have argued that employment programs are unlikely to be successful 

at reducing recidivism unless they address the core “criminogenic needs” of individuals involved 

in the criminal justice system. The term “criminogenic needs” is used to describe dynamic (that is, 

changeable) risk factors. Most researchers agree that the most important dynamic risk factors are 

impulsivity, lack of self-control, antisocial thoughts, and antisocial peers. These findings have led 

many corrections programs to focus on cognitive behavioral therapy as a treatment approach.12 There 

are many different kinds of cognitive behavioral therapy interventions, but all share the assumption 

that the “cognitive distortions” that lead people toward criminal behaviors are learned rather than 

innate, and thus can be changed. Cognitive behavioral therapy approaches are used to teach offenders 

new, “prosocial” skills to replace the antisocial ones they often possess, through modeling, practice, 

and reinforcement.13 Research has further shown that cognitive behavioral therapy approaches are 

most effective at reducing recidivism for those at the highest risk of recidivism initially — as was 

found to be the case for the CEO program.14

12. Van Voorhis and Lester (1997); Hubbard and Latessa (2004). 

13. Latessa (2012). “Prosocial” activities are the antithesis of antisocial behaviors such as substance use. Prosocial 

activities include church participation, civic engagement (for example, through a political organization or by being 

registered to vote), volunteer participation, and involvement in social clubs.

14. Zweig, Yahner, and Redcross (2011).

Introduction | 5
As an employment-focused program, CEO did not directly seek to target cognitive behavioral skills 

in the way cognitive behavioral therapy does. Nonetheless, CEO does aim to change individuals’ 

behavior, as it seeks to improve individuals’ job readiness through on-the-job coaching that applies 

techniques similar to those commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy: prosocial modeling, 

education in problem solving, and positive reinforcement. This possibility led to the hypothesis 

described above that CEO’s work-crew model promoted improvements in attitudes and behaviors 

and is the mechanism behind CEO’s success in reducing recidivism. The current study includes a 

qualitative examination of the experiences of program participants in the hope of addressing this 

hypothesis. 

THIS REPORT

This report briefly describes the process of replicating CEO and presents the results from a fidelity 

assessment of five CEO replication programs in New York, Oklahoma, and California. The replication programs chosen for this report included all CEO programs that were fully operational during 

the study. Three additional replication programs have launched successfully — in Oklahoma City, 

Oklahoma; San Bernardino, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — since the data collection 

for this report was completed. In addition to discussing results from the fidelity study, this report 

attempts to supplement the evidence from the earlier rigorous evaluation of the CEO program 

through a more in-depth look at participants’ experiences. 

Importantly, CEO is not a “manualized” intervention. In other words, it does not dictate a step-bystep treatment plan or curriculum, allowing some flexibility in how the various components are 

delivered. The program does have a clear structure, however, and a set of core components, including an initial one-week life-skills class, a paid job in CEO’s work crews, daily pay, job coaching, job 

placement, and services to help participants retain jobs once they get them. Each component comes 

with specific systems that guide how it should be carried out, such as assessments of job readiness, 

a formal performance rating system for participants (the Passport to Success), and expectations for 

how staff members will coach participants to develop “soft skills” (the general habits and competencies that make for an effective employee). 

While this study closely examines the implementation and fidelity of the replication programs, it 

does not include an impact evaluation.15 The replication programs were found to operate with high 

fidelity to the model, but it is not possible from this assessment to determine whether the replication 

programs would have the same effects on employment and recidivism as were found in the earlier 

study of the New York City program. It is reasonable to assume that if the replication programs 

operate the same model, with the same population, the results should be similar (or perhaps better, 

since CEO implemented various improvements based on the results of the earlier study). However, 

many external factors can influence programs’ success, including the service environment, labor 

15. The study was originally planned to include a random assignment impact evaluation of three upstate New York CEO 

replication programs. However, it was determined early on that a random assignment study would not be feasible 

given the relatively small size of the parole populations in the areas served by the replication programs, and given 

the numbers the programs had the capacity to serve. 

6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
Introduction | 7

market, and structure of the criminal justice system in each locale. Notably, a separate random assignment evaluation is currently being conducted of CEO’s New York City and Rochester, New York 

programs as part of the New York State and U.S. Department of Labor’s Pay for Success initiative. 

Results from that evaluation will be available in 2017. See Box 1.2 for a description of Pay for Success. 

The second goal of this study is to take a closer look at the implementation of the CEO model and the 

experiences of participants while they are in the program, which may help clarify the mechanisms 

through which CEO reduces recidivism. By taking a closer look at implementation this evaluation 

provides insight into the structure of the program, with particular attention to the components that 

differ from the other transitional jobs programs studied in the past (important information that was 

not available for the earlier study). This study also includes a multifaceted qualitative examination of 

the perceptions and experiences of participants, the relationships that form in work crews between 

staff members and participants, and the ways staff members support participants as they transition 

from prison to the community. The protocols that guided the qualitative study were designed to obtain information that would inform the hypothesis arising from the earlier study: that the structure 

of CEO’s transitional jobs — specifically the work crews — provide the opportunity for program 

staff members (and peers) to influence participants’ outlooks, attitudes, and perceptions in a way 

that other transitional jobs programs do not, thereby leading to reductions in criminal behaviors. 
It can be difficult even for very experienced and well-managed programs to replicate themselves 

and expand to a larger scale. This report therefore also tells the story of CEO’s approach to replication, including the factors it considered in choosing one replication location rather than another, 

the ingredients it found necessary for success, the critical role of local partners and the influence 

of local context, and its decision to centralize management rather than taking a franchise or “affiliate” approach.

Chapter 2 describes the research approach taken to assess fidelity to the model and the data sources 

used in this evaluation. Chapter 3 describes the core components of CEO’s program and the findings 

of the fidelity and implementation study. Chapter 4 describes results from an in-depth qualitative 

study highlighting the perspectives of participants and their experiences in the program. Chapter 

5 presents a brief conclusion. Appendix A, contributed by Sam Schaeffer, the executive director of 

CEO, provides some background on the process CEO took in founding the five replication programs 

in this study. It also includes a text box describing an experience with using an affiliate approach to 

create one replication program in California, which highlights some of the challenges organizations 

may encounter when using such an approach. 

8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
CH

2

APTER

Methods, Data Sources, and

Participant Characteristics

INTRODUCTION

In 2011, MDRC began fidelity and implementation assessments of five Center for Employment 

Opportunities (CEO) replication programs — all replication programs that were considered fully 

operational during the study time frame. These replication programs were in Albany, Buffalo, and 

Rochester, New York; San Diego, California; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The goal was to assess their fidelity to the program model that was developed in New York City.1

 MDRC visited each of the programs 

and conducted a series of interviews with staff members and managers, participants, and service 

and referral partners. In addition, the research team conducted an in-depth qualitative study that 

sought to capture staff members’ and participants’ perspectives on the program. This chapter will 

describe the methods and data sources used in this study. 

The questions guiding the fidelity and implementation research were: 

•

•

•

•

•

•

Is the replication program operating the core CEO components with fidelity to the service model?

How is the replication program different from the original New York City program, and why?

What operational challenges arose in the replication program and how were they addressed?

Do participants in the replication program receive the same level of CEO’s core services as participants at the New York City program?

What are characteristics and qualifications of staff members and how do they view their roles

and responsibilities in supporting and coaching participants?

What kinds of challenges do participants face when they leave prison and rejoin their communities?

1. CEO has since added replication programs in other cities, but at the time of the study these were the only five that 

were fully operational. 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 9
• What did participants expect and what did they gain from the program? 

• How is CEO viewed by parole/probation agencies and other community stakeholders?

• What policies are in place governing parole/probation and reentry in each of the cities? Do differences in the local criminal justice policy environment affect the implementation of CEO or 

the characteristics of the population served by the program? 

METHODS USED TO ASSESS FIDELITY AND IMPLEMENTATION

The study of CEO’s replication programs began with an assessment of their fidelity to the core 

elements of the model. The research team defined 24 program elements, based on the “essential 

elements” identified by CEO’s leaders (see Appendix A). The elements fell into three categories:

(1) recruitment and enrollment, (2) the service model and core program components, and (3) management. These elements were summarized in a rating structure that was used to quantify findings after 

the research team visited each of the replication programs (see Appendix Figure B.1). The program 

elements are summarized in Box 2.1 and discussed in further detail below. 

The first group of program elements shown in Box 2.1 are the processes in place for recruiting and 

enrolling CEO participants. A clear recruitment procedure and target population are critical to 

successful program replication, and the enrollment mechanisms CEO put in place (for example, a 

streamlined referral process and defined eligibility criteria) contribute to the replication programs’ 

ability to reach the people the model was designed to serve (described in more detail in Chapter 3). 

The second group of program elements shown in Box 2.1 captures CEO’s service model and core 

program components. Replication programs were expected to operate all of CEO’s core components 

(life-skills training, transitional jobs, job coaching, job placement, and job retention services). In 

addition, the research team paid close attention to the frequency and intensity of service delivery, 

or “dosage” of program services (for example, the number of days or hours in each program component and the incentives for participation). The third and final group of program elements relates 

to program management. CEO management was characterized by its clear staffing structure, heavy 

use of the Salesforce management information system, and active leadership. Taken together, all of 

these program elements provided a common set of benchmarks against which the research team 

could measure the fidelity of the replication programs in operating the CEO model.

It is also important to note that, as mentioned in the previous chapter, CEO’s model is not “manualized,” which means that the replication programs may differ from the original program in certain 

ways without compromising fidelity to the CEO model.2

 The most striking example of this variation can be observed in the size of the target population. Selected measures of program capacity 

are shown in Table 2.1. It was never the expectation that replication programs, operating in much 

smaller cities, would serve a client population as large as the one in New York City. Thus, while this 

2. A “manualized” program follows a step-by-step curriculum, protocol, or plan. See Wilson (1998) for more on 

manualized programs and practice.

1 0 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
Methods, Data Sources, and Participant Characteristics | 1 1
TABLE 2.1 Profile of CEO's Programs at the Time of the Initial Site Visit, by City

NEW YORK CITYa ALBANY BUFFALO ROCHESTER SAN DIEGO TULSA

Year established 1996 2009 2009 2010 2011 2011

Date of initial site visit November 2010 March 2011 March 2011 December 2011 April 2013 July 2012

Number served annuallyb 1,435 209 192 185 124 213

Number of staff membersc 59 7 6 6 7 9

Number of CEO work crews 30-35 3 2 2 3 4

SOURCES: Program data based on MDRC site visits to CEO program offices, CEO’s management information system, and 

communication with CEO New York City managers. 

NOTES: a

Unlike the initial visits to CEO’s replication programs, which were to assess fidelity to the program model, the purpose 

of the visit to New York City in 2010 was to observe and document how the program model was implemented in the original 

location, with particular attention paid to changes that had been made since the conclusion of the earlier evaluation (see 

Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin, 2012). 

 b

This measure shows the number of people who enrolled in each CEO program in 2012. The number served in New York City 

only includes people under the supervision of parole. If CEO’s other target populations, such as probationers, were included, 

the number served annually would be closer to 2,000. 

 c

These data represent the approximate number of staff members involved in one or more of the following job responsibilities: 

enrollment, life-skills education, job coaching, job placement, job-retention support, and work-site supervision. Staff members 

in New York City who worked with people on probation are not included.

1 2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

difference was important to keep in mind, it did not affect the findings with regard to the replications programs’ fidelity. 

Visits to the replication programs were conducted between 2011 and 2013, allowing time for each 

newly established program to become fully operational before the assessment visit. MDRC researchers conducted interviews with program staff members and managers, participants, and service and 

referral partners. Following the visits, each program was assessed for fidelity to the CEO model using 

the rating matrix presented in Appendix Figure B.1. The findings from these visits are described in 

detail in Chapter 3. 

DATA SOURCES

The data in this report are drawn from a number of sources, summarized in Table 2.2 and described 

in more detail below. 
TABLE 2.2 Data Sources in the CEO Replication Study

DATA SOURCE SAMPLE

ALL PROGRAMS NEW YORK CITY ALBANY BUFFALO ROCHESTER 

SAMPLE

SIZE ROUNDS

SAMPLE

SIZE ROUNDS

SAMPLE

SIZE ROUNDS

SAMPLE

SIZE ROUNDS

SAMPLE

SIZE RO

Semistructured 

interviews

CEO program staff membersa 69 2 29 1 6 2 11 1 5 

Observations of

work sites

CEO work sites 14 2 2 1 2 2 4 1 1 

Contextual sources 

(interviews)

State and localstakeholdersb

35 1 4 2 5 2 14 2 5 

CEO management 

information system

CEO participants enrolledfrom Jan. 2012 to Sept. 2013c

4,228 NA 2,560 NA 342 NA 372 NA 292 

Participant 

questionnaires

CEO participants working

in transitional jobs

193 1 46 1 9 2 48 1 25 

Staff

questionnaires

CEO program staffmembersa

90 1 59 1 5 1 7 1 5 

In-depth participant interviews

CEO participants whoagreed to be interviewedd

20 NA NA NA NA 2 11 NA NA 

NOTES: Data collection for the CEO replication study began in November 2010 and ended in April 2014. The participant and staff uestionnaires were NA = not applicable.

aCEO program staff members included employees with the following job responsibilities: enrollment, life-skills education, job coaching, job placem

work-site supervision. Some of the staff embers in New York City, Buffalo, and Tulsa were interviewed more than once, but each individual is counte

Methods, Data Sources, and Participant Characteristics| 1 3
TABLE 2.2 (continued)

 bState and local stakeholders in the fi ld of prisoner reentry included parole/probation agencies, service 

providers, and funders. For the statewide policy context in New York, MDRC conducted a phone interview with four 

representatives from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the New York 

State Division of Criminal Justice Services. In the table, the interview is counted as a contextual source for each of the 

CEO programs operating in New York but is counted once in the “All Programs” column.

 c

The research team acquired these data in April 2014. A cutoff ate of September 2013 was selected to permit 

the research team to analyze six months of postenrollment data for each participant in the sample. Measures of 

participation in Rapid Rewards were calculated for participants who enrolled in CEO from January 2012 through April 

2013 to allow for 12 months of postenrollment data analysis.

 d

The research team asked local CEO program staff embers to identify participants to interview who would 

represent a variety of experiences with CEO and prisoner reentry and who had at least a couple of weeks of 

participation in the program.

1 4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

Semistructured Interviews

MDRC conducted interviews with CEO program staff members and managers to obtain an understanding of operations in each replication program. Staff members were asked to describe the CEO 

services the program delivered and their own roles and experiences. Other interview questions 

examined important partnerships, participant characteristics, participants’ trajectories through the 

program, and local factors affecting prisoner reentry. 

Observations of Work Crews

MDRC researchers visited 14 transitional job crews across CEO’s programs, making firsthand observations of participants at work and conducting informal interviews with participants and their 

supervisors.3

Contextual Sources

The research team met with the referring criminal justice agency in each city to learn about its policies and practices, and also interviewed community stakeholders in the field of prisoner reentry to 

learn about the context in which each replication program operates. 

Management Information System Data

All CEO programs rely heavily on their management information system, Salesforce, to aid in the 

delivery of client services and program management. The management information system data 

files obtained by the research team included information about the following measures: program 

enrollment, job readiness, job placement, transitional work and earnings, and job-club and job3. This report refers to both “work crews” and “work sites.” A work crew is the group of people employed at a work site 

— the transitional job location.
placement activities. The main analysis sample was composed of individuals who enrolled in CEO 

between January 2012 and September 2013, allowing for six months of follow-up data relative to the 

participants’ enrollment dates.4

Questionnaires

Staff and participant perspectives on CEO were solicited through questionnaires that asked about 

individuals’ experiences as current employees or clients. Ninety staff members completed the 

questionnaires across all five replication programs and the New York City program (an 85 percent 

response rate). The participant questionnaires were administered to 193 participants across all of 

the replication programs in 2013 and 2014, only to individuals who were working in transitional 

jobs at the time.5

 Detailed response rates for both questionnaires are presented in Appendix Table 

B.1. The results of both the staff and participant questionnaires are discussed in Chapters 3 and 4.

In-Depth Participant Interviews

In-depth interviews with CEO participants were conducted when researchers visited the programs 

in Buffalo and Tulsa a second time. The primary purpose of these interviews was to gather detailed 

qualitative information about participants’ experiences in CEO, with other reentry and employment 

programs, and with the criminal justice system. Two rounds of interviews were conducted: The first 

took place in person, while the participant was working in the CEO transitional job; the second was 

conducted by phone about three to five months later. Interviews were based on a common set of 

questions, participants were compensated for their time, and each interview lasted about 45 to 60 

minutes. Thirteen participants were interviewed in the first round; the research team succeeded in 

reaching seven of them for follow-up interviews. 

4. CEO provided the research team with data exported from Salesforce. The data were at the event level (that is, there 

was a distinct record for every activity that took place for an individual), and contained no personally identifying 

information. Instead, the files contained a unique identifier for each individual referred to the program. Data were 

stored in designated project directories on MDRC’s servers where only research staff embers working on the 

project had access to them. Data were checked for completeness and quality, and cleaned for usage in analysis files. 

All analyses and summary statistics shown in the report were produced using SAS, a statistical analysis program. 

The total number of participants administered the questionnaire includes nine participants in Albany. However, the 

Albany program has been excluded from the participant questionnaire analysis, shown later in the report, due to 

the low response rate there.

5. At the time of the survey, just under a third of the respondents (30 percent) had been employed for less than one 

month and almost 20 percent had been employed for more than three months. The remainder had been employed 

for one, two, or three months. A sensitivity analysis was conducted that excluded individuals who had been in the 

program for less than one month to see if the brevity of their time in the program affected their responses about 

their work experience (the thought being that people who had spent less time in the program may not have had 

sufficient time to engage with it). However, the amount of time people had been working in transitional jobs did 

not appear to affect their responses about their work experiences. 

The Albany replication program has been excluded from the analysis of the participant questionnaire because the 

response rate there was very low.

Methods, Data Sources, and Participant Characteristics | 1 5
BASELINE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS 

The research team obtained data files from CEO for all participants in the five replication programs 

and the New York City program who enrolled in CEO from January 2012 through September 2013. By 

January 2012, all of the replication programs in the study were firmly established; including data for 

participants enrolled through September 2013 ensured that all of the people included in the sample 

would have had an opportunity to participate in the program for six months after enrolling. As 

expected, these parameters yielded a much larger sample size in New York City (2,560 participants) 

than in the replication programs (274 to 388 participants in each). Selected characteristics of this 

sample are presented in Table 2.3.6

As Table 2.3 shows, although CEO serves a similar population in all of its locations, the characteristics of the participants differed in notable ways from one program to the next (see Appendix 

Table B.2 for the results of significance tests comparing sample characteristics in New York City to 

each replication program). For example, in New York (both New York City and upstate programs), 

participants were much more likely to be black/African American (72 percent to 90 percent) than 

white (7 percent to 16 percent), whereas only half of the sample in San Diego and Tulsa is black/

African American. The proportion of participants who are female is much larger in Tulsa than in 

the other programs. Since Oklahoma incarcerates more women per capita than any other state in 

the country,7

 this finding is not altogether surprising. 

Similarly, there were important differences in the proportion of participants in each program who 

were supervised through parole. During the study period, the Albany and Rochester programs 

recruited solely from the parole system, meaning 100 percent of the sample from those programs 

was on parole.8

 The Buffalo program, however, began serving people on probation in April 2013, 

which explains why a smaller proportion of the sample from that location is on parole (85 percent). 

In Oklahoma, probation and parole are administered by a single agency, and the Tulsa program 

enrolled people under either form of supervision. The most striking outlier is the San Diego program, where only 64 percent of the sample was on parole. This is a direct result of a major reform 

of California’s correctional system enacted in 2011, known as Realignment (described in Appendix 

A.1 and Appendix Box A.1).

It is especially important to note the average number of days between when participants were released 

from prison and when they enrolled in CEO. As the previous study of CEO showed, recently released 

former prisoners stand to benefit the most from CEO services.9

 There were striking differences in 

the number of days between release and enrollment, with the Albany and Tulsa programs keeping 

the average time to about four to six months. In New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, and San Diego, 

6. Sample characteristics and a significance test comparing sample characteristics for the pooled replication programs 

are shown in Appendix Table B.3. 

7. Carson (2015).

8. The sample from New York City includes only individuals on parole because CEO’s nonparolee populations were 

excluded from this analysis. 

9. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012).

1 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
TABLE 2.3 Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants, by Program

CHARACTERISTIC ALL PROGRAMS NEW YORK CITY ALBANY BUFFALO ROCHESTER 

Age (%)

18-25 years 34.0 26.1 35.1 46.2 53.1 

26-30 years 18.6 19.7 18.1 14.8 15.4 31-40 years 23.2 25.3 24.6 20.2 15.4 

41 years or older 24.2 28.9 22.2 18.8 16.1 

Average age (years) 32.5 34.1 32.1 30.4 29.0 

Race/ethnicity (%)

Black/African American 71.1 72.1 81.4 77.4 90.3 

White 13.9 6.5 15.7 13.2 8.7 

Other 15.0 21.4 3.0 9.4 1.0 

Male (%) 92.9 94.3 93.8 93.6 95.2 

High school or high school equivalency diploma (%) 63.0 65.3 64.1 63.2 51.7 

Days between release and enrollment (%)

90 or fewer 51.5 53.5 51.9 42.9 45.5 

91-120 7.2 5.7 11.0 13.7 9.5 

121-180 9.3 8.5 14.0 11.8 9.1 

181-365 14.3 13.2 10.7 14.0 16.0 

More than 365 17.7 19.1 12.5 17.7 20.0 

Average days between release and enrollment 215 226 166 227 255 

Supervision type (%)

Parole 94.8 100.0 100.0 85.2 100.0 

Probation 5.2 0.0 0.0 14.8 0.0 

Sample size 4,228 2,560 342 372 292 

SOURCE: MDRC calculations using data from CEO's management information system. NOTES: The samples from all cities include people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and September 2013.

Methods, Data Sources, and Participant Characteristics| 1 7
in contrast, it takes an average of seven to nine months for participants to enroll in CEO after being 

released. One can also see the contrast by reviewing the percentage of participants who enrolled in 

the program within 90 days of release. Here, the differences are statistically significant; almost 70 

percent of participants in Tulsa enrolled during this three-month window, compared with only 23 

percent in San Diego. In other programs, this proportion is around 40 percent (Buffalo and Rochester) 

or about 50 percent (Albany and New York City). Notably, the proportion of participants who enrolled in the New York City program within 90 days of release is an increase from what was found 

in the earlier evaluation of the program. This increase probably reflects CEO’s efforts to respond to 

that study’s finding that the program was more effective at reducing recidivism among those who 

were recently released from prison.10

There were notable differences in the age of participants across programs. For example, the proportion of sample members ages 18 to 25 was much greater in most of the replication programs than it 

was in New York City. There are at least two reasons for this: First, the New York City sample shown 

in the table excludes people on probation, who tend to be younger than people on parole.11 Second, 

CEO began targeting younger age groups in more recent years, and it was easier for the newer replication programs to set expectations with their referral partners to make a priority of that younger 

group than it was for the long-established New York City program. 

The next chapter discusses how the CEO model was implemented by the replication programs and 

presents information about participation and service receipt using data from CEO’s management 

information system. 

10. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012).

11. New York City probation clients receive an array of services from CEO that differ somewhat from CEO’s core services; 

therefore, the data on this population do not provide appropriate benchmarks for assessing replication program 

fidelity. 

1 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
CH

3

APTER

Fidelity and Adaptation:

Replication of the CEO Model

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) model and the degree to 

which core model components were in place in the five replication programs that were part of this 

fidelity study. As discussed earlier, CEO has established a set of “essential elements” based on the 

earlier evaluation that were used in guiding MDRC’s assessment of the replication programs’ fidelity to the model. Although fidelity to the core elements of the model was not explicitly measured 

relative to the New York City program, that program did provide a helpful benchmark for specific 

aspects of the implementation analysis. In particular, this chapter makes comparisons with the New 

York City program to gauge the level of participation and service receipt that might be expected in 

the replication programs. This comparison is especially useful because the core model does not prescribe the “dosage” (that is, the frequency and intensity) of the services participants should receive, 

but one can assume that a certain minimum dosage is necessary for the program to be effective. At 

a minimum, the New York City program’s participation rates are helpful in assessing whether the 

replication programs are meeting the dosage standards of a program that was found to be effective.

As Chapter 2 pointed out, however, it is important to keep in mind that the New York City program 

is roughly 10 times the size of any of the replication programs, so some examples of variation in 

implementation can be explained by the relative sizes of the programs. Likewise, since the CEO 

model rarely provides detailed instructions concerning exactly how replication programs are supposed to deliver services, the assessment of fidelity presented here is more broadly focused on the 

implementation of core model elements, the development of partnerships with parole and other city 

agencies, and staff members’ qualifications and understanding of the program mission.

The next section describes each core CEO model component followed by examples of how replication 

programs did or did not adapt that component based on their local contexts. Participation rates in 

important program activities are presented, along with selected responses from a short questionnaire 

administered to staff members and active participants. 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 1 9
OVERVIEW OF THE CEO MODEL

CEO’s program model is based on the assumption that people recently released from prison have 

an immediate need for stable income and employment. There is considerable evidence showing that 

the first three months out of prison are a critically vulnerable time for former prisoners, and the 

previous evaluation of CEO found that the program was most effective for people at the highest risk 

of reoffending and those most recently released from prison.1

In every location, the core sequence of services is intended to be the same: Participants are recruited 

through partnerships with parole or probation offices (in recent years, giving priority to younger 

recruits and those recently released from prison). They take a basic job-readiness and life-skills 

class, and then they are quickly placed in small work crews performing highly structured, generally low-skilled work, for which they receive a daily paycheck. CEO participants work three to four 

days a week on the work crews and spend a fifth day in the office meeting with job coaches or job 

developers. Participants receive job placement assistance through these weekly individual consultations focused on résumé and interview preparation, career planning, referrals to appropriate job 

openings, and follow-up on progress made so far. Finally, those participants who secure regular 

work after CEO receive continuing consultations and cash bonuses to help them retain their jobs. 

CEO’s structured work-crew model and daily paycheck set it apart from many other employment 

service providers and, in interviews with staff members, participants, and partners, these elements 

were consistently described as indispensable pieces of the program.2

 A participant in Tulsa, for example, summed up the way the two features (daily pay and daily structure) worked together to help 

him after he exited prison. The daily pay, he said, allowed him “to cover my basic needs.” Another 

participant pointed to the value of having a daily obligation, saying, “It gave me something to get up 

for in the morning. You know, not just to be laying around.” As these participants understood, the 

transitional jobs are designed with a few principal goals in mind: (1) to provide stability and income, 

which may reduce the incentive to turn back to crime during the critical period just after release; 

(2) to expose participants to workplace skills and expectations so that they may be better prepared 

to succeed when they begin working in the regular labor market; and (3) to signal to prospective 

employers that the individuals were able to show up to work on time and perform satisfactorily in 

a job after being released from prison. 

Figure 3.1 illustrates the model’s conceptual framework, showing the components of the intervention and how those components are intended to lead — through stability, positive peer and staff 

influences, short-term employment, and work-readiness training — to long-term improvements in 

employment and reduced recidivism. Specifically, the program’s intervention of daily paid work 

alongside job placement assistance, interview preparation, and training in workplace norms and 

expectations is expected to improve participants’ stability, incomes, and job readiness in the time 

shortly following their release from prison, and reduce their criminal behaviors and recidivism. 

1. Blumstein and Nakamura (2010); Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012).

2. See Chapter 4 for more detail on this point. 

2 0 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
FIGURE 3.1 CEO Conceptual Model

COMPONENTS OF INTERVENTION MEDIATING OUTCOMES LONG-TE

Participants will receive all core components of the CEO program including:• Preemployment life-skills class• Transitional jobs work crews• Job coaching• Passport to Success• Job placement• Job retention services• Work support

1. Higher rates of employment due to 

CEO transitional jobs

2. Higher income levels due to higher 

employment rates

3. Improved readiness for work and soft 

skills

4. Improved stability in critical period 

after release due to employment and income

5. Structure and positive staff and peer 

infl ences through daily work

6. Reduced short-term recidivism and 

violations of supervision conditions, due to income and stability in the critical period after release

1. Increased uns2. Improved job 

employment 

3. Employment 

potential

4. Reduced recid

employment short-term re

• No arrests• No convict• No reincar

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model| 2 1
These short-term improvements, the thinking goes, will ultimately lead to longer-term employment 

gains, improved attitudes and behaviors, and reductions in recidivism. 

CEO INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND STAFFING

CEO has two operational goals: (1) implementing the transitional work component of the model 

and (2) supporting individuals in transitional jobs and helping them find permanent positions. Staff 

members focused on transitional jobs identify and develop work sites, assign participants to work 

crews, supervise participants while they are employed at work sites, and pay participants daily for 

the work they do. In the replication programs, several aspects of the transitional work component 

are managed by staff members in the New York City office, including identifying and developing 

work sites, assigning participants to work sites, and handling the daily payroll system. The deputy 

executive director of CEO National (based in New York City) takes responsibility for the management of the replication programs. 

Several types of staff members focus on the other CEO service offerings. In the replication programs, 

recruitment and enrollment are typically handled by job coaches. Job coaches also serve as individual 

case managers supporting participants. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the role of a CEO job coach is 

to work with new participants and those who are not considered “job-start ready,” helping them get 

ready to search and interview for unsubsidized positions while in transitional jobs. Job coaches also 

teach the preemployment job-readiness classes — called Life Skills Education — that are required 

before participants begin work in transitional jobs. Job developers focus on moving participants into 

permanent employment by working with both outside employers and participants. Over time, CEO 

added another type of staff member — retention specialists — who took over some responsibilities of 

job coaches. These staff members focus on supporting participants once they have permanent jobs. 

RECRUITMENT AND ENROLLMENT

The CEO programs rely on parole and probation officers to identify and refer potential participants 

who meet CEO’s eligibility criteria. Specifically, those referred to the programs must be 18 or older, 

ready and able to work (as determined by the parole officer and CEO), and unlikely to find permanent employment without help. They also can never have been convicted of a sex offense against a 

minor or arson. While CEO originally only served people returning from prison, the New York City 

program and certain replication programs began enrolling people on probation in the year leading 

up to MDRC’s fidelity and implementation study, and continued to do so during the study. As Table 

2.3 shows, however, the vast majority of participants were on parole when they enrolled in CEO.

Since parole and probation officers are the main source of referrals for all CEO programs, CEO staff 

members must maintain strong and constructive relationships with them, and ensure that they have 

a clear understanding of the kinds of participants who are best suited for CEO’s services. MDRC’s 

conversations with CEO staff members and parole and probation officers revealed that programs did 

establish these strong working relationships and that officers generally had a good understanding 

of the program and of the kinds of parolees who were appropriate for referral. 

2 2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
Despite this evidence of good understanding, most of the CEO programs enrolled a number of participants who were not ideal candidates, according to the existing evidence. As discussed in Chapter 

1, the previous impact evaluation of the New York City program showed that CEO’s impacts on recidivism were concentrated among people who enrolled in the program shortly after being released 

and people at highest risk of recidivism. In several CEO programs, however, this study found that a 

large proportion of participants did not enroll within the first few months of their release. There are 

any number of possible explanations for this finding. For example it may be that CEO programs do 

not emphasize quick enrollment when they define to parole officers whom to refer. It may be difficult 

for them to ensure that parole officers adhere to narrow eligibility guidelines. It may be difficult for 

them to serve their target number of participants while at the same time enforcing strict restrictions 

on eligibility. It is likely that many factors contribute to the delay. Further, the recidivism risk level of 

participants is unknown since these data are not available in CEO’s management information system. 

While community supervision agencies in all the areas where CEO operates do use risk and needs 

scores, those scores are rarely shared with CEO and thus are not used to determine eligibility or 

guide service delivery. That said, CEO communicates to those agencies its desire to serve high-risk 

individuals in need of employment services, emphasizing that education, experience, and attitude are 

not criteria for entry. Interviews with staff members and referral partners support this conclusion.

IMPLEMENTATION OF CORE PROGRAM COMPONENTS

Life Skills Education

CEO’s services in replication programs begin with a one-week class called Life Skills Education. This 

class serves as an orientation to the rules and expectations of CEO, as well as an introduction to the 

sorts of job-search skills and soft skills that CEO considers essential (including résumé building, 

interviewing, discussing one’s conviction record, punctuality, communication, appropriate workplace attire, and decorum). The class is also used as an opportunity to deal with most basic barriers 

to employment such as the lack of identification and Social Security cards needed to establish a 

participant’s status as a citizen or legally employable immigrant. The class is based on a curriculum 

developed by CEO, but instructors are also free to adapt the lessons and emphasis based on their 

own backgrounds and perspectives as well as those of the participants. Box 3.1 features an example 

of the kinds of topics that may be covered during this class. 

In each replication program, this component was in place and followed the same basic outline 

as shown in Box 3.1. What variation from the framework that did exist appeared to be a result of 

instructors bringing in different perspectives and emphasizing different pieces of the curriculum. 

One instructor, for example, said that his primary goal with the class, beyond the basic orientation 

activities, was to build trust and rapport with the participants. This instructor saw the “posturing 

attitude” that some participants brought to the program as a major impediment to success, and said 

that he uses class time to overcome that attitude and create an environment in which participants 

feel safe and confident. In another replication program, the staff agreed that the Life Skills Education 

instructor’s use of guest speakers was especially popular with the participants. Whatever the slight 

variations that different instructors brought to the class, though, it was clear that participants in all 

programs received essentially the same message: If you are serious about getting a job and staying 

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model | 2 3
2 4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
out of prison, CEO will help you by providing daily support and structure through the work crews 

and through individual job-search assistance. 

Transitional Jobs 

After completing the Life Skills Education class, CEO participants quickly move into transitional 

employment with crews of about five to seven participants. Placement on a CEO work site is the core 

of CEO’s model. Each program has arrangements with various city, county, and state agencies for 

CEO participants to perform specific tasks under the supervision of a CEO staff member. Box 3.2 

provides a few examples of the kinds of agencies and tasks where participants worked during the time 

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model | 2 5
of MDRC’s fidelity and implementation study, 

and Box 3.3 describes the process of “plugging 

in” to get onto a CEO work crew. Participants 

generally travel to these work sites together 

in a CEO van and work six-and-a-half hours 

per day, four days per week. They are paid 

minimum wage and are allowed to work for up 

to 75 days. Each crew is supervised by a CEO 

staff member who has the job of supervising 

and providing job coaching to the participants, 

and who also navigates relationships with the 

agencies for which CEO provides services.

As Table 3.1 shows, among participants who 

completed the Life Skills Education class, the 

majority made it into a transitional job (over 

88 percent in New York City and just under 80 

percent in the replication programs). Among 

those who started a transitional job, the length 

of time working in the job and engaged in the 

program are also comparable, with an average 

of 20 working days in replication programs and 

23 in New York City. On average, over half of 

all participants spend between 1 and 20 days 

on the crews before exiting the program or finding work — which means most of them leave before 

reaching the maximum number of days they are allowed to work in the crews.3

 Participants were 

engaged with CEO, on average, for about three months (between 11 and 13 weeks).

Because the experience of working with a transitional job crew was so important to the CEO model, 

the research team examined several elements of that experience during visits to the programs and in 

interviews with staff members and participants. Below, implementation and variation in two important 

aspects of the transitional job experience — the tasks performed on work crews and the relationships 

between participants and supervisors — are discussed, along with participant perspectives on each. 

• Most participants performed basic janitorial and landscaping tasks on work crews. In certain 

locations, work-site partnerships offered opportunities for higher-skilled work and more 

training opportunities.

Participants did relatively similar work in all the programs. Most performed fairly basic janitorial 

and outdoor cleanup tasks. (About 80 percent of participants indicated “cleaning and maintaining 

3. As Table 3.1 also shows, active engagement includes work in a transitional job, meetings with a job coach or job 

developer, and receipt of job retention bonuses. See Appendix Table C.1 for differences in participation across 

programs assessed for statistical significance.

2 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
TABLE 3.1 Participation in CEO Activities: Replication Programs

Compared with the New York City Program

 OUTCOME

NEW YORK

CITY

REPLICATION 

PROGRAMS

Ever worked in a CEO transitional job (%) 88.4 79.3 ***

Assessed for job-start readiness (%) 88.2 85.9 **

Determined to be job-start ready (%) 64.5 75.8 ***

Met with a job coach (%) 81.7 76.9 ***

Met with a job developer (%) 56.4 71.8 ***

AMONG THOSE WHO WORKED IN A CEO TRANSITIONAL JOB

Days worked in a CEO transitional joba

 (%) ***

1-10 33.7 37.5

11-20 20.5 25.0

21-30 14.0 14.8

31-40 11.6 9.5

More than 41 20.2 13.2

Average number of days worked in a CEO transitional job 23.2 19.9 ***

Average number of meetings with job coach 3.2 1.5 ***

Average number of meetings with job developer 3.8 3.7

Total weeks of active engagement with programb 13.2 10.9 ***

Placed in an unsubsidized jobc

 (%) 34.7 50.0 ***

AMONG THOSE WHO WERE PLACED IN AN UNSUBSIDIZED JOB

Unsubsidized job characteristics

Average starting wage ($) 9.72 9.19 ***

Hours per week 33.5 35.8 ***

Employer-provided benefits (%) 17.7 29.2 ***

Ever received a Rapid Rewards paymentd

 (%) 75.2 92.2 ***

AMONG THOSE WHO RECEIVED A RAPID REWARDS PAYMENT

Number of Rapid Rewards paymentsd 2.8 5.7 ***

Total amount of Rapid Rewards paymentsd

 ($) 177.81 172.89

Sample size 2,560 1,668

(continued)

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model | 2 7
work spaces” as the kind of work they performed in a typical day. See Appendix Table C.2 for full 

list of tasks.) In interviews, most participants said that they appreciated this work. Some noted that 

cleaning up neighborhood streets gave them a gratifying sense of community and others simply 

acknowledged that they did not expect to find more skilled or challenging work quickly after leaving prison, and that the structure and community of the cleanup crews helped acclimate them to 

workplace expectations. One participant in Buffalo who worked on a street cleanup crew said, “I need 

something to do. Put me to work. Put me out on the street. I’m more happy there. Those people that 

I work with are the only people that I’m around.” Another Buffalo participant captured the humility 

and perspective he tries to bring to the work, saying, “It’s better than six cents an hour. You can’t 

just come out of prison and then expect for somebody to [say], ‘Here, we have this $70,000-a-year 

job for you because you just got out of prison.’ It doesn’t work like that.” 

Some participants viewed their work on the crews simply as a job, or a paycheck, and not as a potential mechanism to develop new skills that would help with future employment, but they expressed 

satisfaction nonetheless. One participant articulated this succinctly: “To me it’s a job. I look at it 

like that.”

While participants generally expressed appreciation for the work regardless of the task, interviews 

with a few Tulsa and Buffalo participants and visits to the work sites in those cities suggested that 

some of them particularly valued crews where they could learn skills that might serve them in their 

next job more directly. In Tulsa, crews working with a recycling center and with Tulsa Community 

College performed tasks including painting, operating a forklift, and light carpentry. Participants 

here appreciated the opportunity to learn more advanced skills, with one participant even deciding to pursue a career in carpentry based on the experience, saying the work “gives you a chance to 

learn something. I took carpentry from just doing a two-week job at [Tulsa Community College]. 

That made me make my mind up to go be a carpenter.” 

TABLE 3.1 (continued)

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from CEO’s management information system.

NOTES: The samples from all programs include people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and 

September 2013. To assess differences in participation between the New York City program and the 

replication programs, chi-square tests were used for categorical variables and two-tailed t-tests were used 

for continuous variables. Statistical significance levels are indicated as follows: *** = 1 percent; ** = 5 percent; 

* = 10 percent. See Appendix Table B.1 for a comparison of each individual replication program with the New 

York City program. 

 a

Days worked may not be consecutive.

 b

This measure is calculated from date of first enrollment to date of first placement in an unsubsidized job, 

or to the last date of employment in a CEO transitional job.

 c

This includes unsubsidized employment placements by CEO and self-placement employment that CEO 

was made aware of or that the client reported to CEO.

 d

This measure reflects whether individuals received Rapid Rewards in the 12 months following enrollment 

into CEO. It includes only people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and March 30, 2013 to allow for 

12 months of follow-up, as individuals can receive Rapid Rewards for up to six months following placement 

into an unsubsidized job.

2 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
In Buffalo, the program developed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity in which CEO workers 

installed drywall in homes before Habitat volunteers finished the work on the houses. Participants 

in Buffalo requested to work on this crew based on their interest in carpentry and repair work and 

those interviewed on-site generally appreciated the opportunity to take part in more skilled, technical work than was available on other crews. As one participant put it, “It’s more like an art form 

when you’re doing the housing crew, because nobody wants a wrong angle on their house, or have 

you put a beam in wrong.” 

• Observations of work crews and interviews with supervisors suggested that some crews struggled 

at times to find tasks to fill the full workday.

Chapter 4 discusses some of the perspectives participants had on the work they were doing through 

their CEO crews. While the reflections were generally positive regardless of the participants’ tasks, 

those who worked on more advanced, higher-skilled tasks spoke particularly highly of the experience, in some cases going so far as to say the work had influenced their long-term career goals. These 

comments mirrored the research team’s observations that, at times, it appeared that certain work 

crews struggled to find tasks for participants, while others appeared to keep participants actively 

engaged on clearly defined projects. Specifically, work crews doing street cleaning and janitorial work 

sometimes finished the day’s tasks early or struggled to find projects for participants to do to fill the 

workday. Those crews that were engaged in project-based tasks or that had real-world performance 

benchmarks (such as the Habitat for Humanity crew in Buffalo and the Metropolitan Environmental 

Trust crew in Tulsa) did not appear to struggle as much with this issue. 

• Crew supervisors primarily oversaw the successful completion of the day’s tasks. While some 

on-site coaching and mentoring occurred, it was limited, and workplace skills were transferred 

more through experience than explicit lessons or coaching. 

Participants generally had positive relationships with supervisors in all the programs, although in a 

few exceptional cases participants mentioned having personality clashes with their supervisors. Onsite supervisors did not appear to be focused on explicit mentoring or coaching in skills for future 

jobs; rather, the research team’s observations and interviews with supervisors suggested that they 

emphasized finishing the task at hand. Supervisors were observed to have a generally familiar and 

friendly rapport with participants, but their interactions were limited to conversations about the 

status of job tasks and small talk during breaks. There was little evidence of any structured coaching. 

Several participant interviews supported this. One participant said, “We talk about jobs. You know, 

when we’re working, we work. We do our jobs and stay focused on what we’re doing.” A participant 

in a different program echoed this, saying supervisors would “crack a couple of jokes with you and 

things, but when it’s time to work, it’s time to work.”

The responses to a few questions on a short questionnaire further support these observations. As 

Table 3.2 shows, a sizable majority of site supervisors (almost 80 percent) agreed that part of their 

role was to help participants learn “soft skills” (the general habits and competencies that make for 

an effective employee, such as how to present oneself at work, how to get along with coworkers, and 

how to see a task through to its completion). However, fewer than 40 percent agreed that part of 

their role was to help participants deal with personal problems that get in the way of working. This 

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model | 2 9
TABLE 3.2 Work-Site Supervisors' Perceptions of Their Role

MEASURE ALL PROGRAMS (%)

Level of agreement with the following statements:a

Part of my role is to help participants learn "soft skills."b 78.1

Part of my role is to help participants learn "hard skills."b 37.5

Part of my role is to help participants address personal problems that get in

the way of working. 38.2

I use other staff embers as a resource to help resolve issues for participants. 35.3

I can relate to my participants. 64.5

Work-site supervisor was asked to provide a reference for a participant 69.7

Sample size 34

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO staff nd supervisor questionnaire.

NOTES: a

Percentage of work-site supervisors who selected 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale where 1 = “strongly disagree” and 7 

= “strongly agree.”

 b”Soft skills” refer to the general habits and competencies that make for an effective employee, such as how to show 

up to work on time and how to work cooperatively with others. “Hard skills,” in contrast, refer to more tangible skill sets 

that require technical knowledge.

3 0 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

discrepancy suggests that supervisors convey their lessons about how to function on the job through 

their supervision feedback, and perhaps by providing a model for behavior, but that they do not see 

themselves more broadly as mentors or counselors to the participants. See Appendix Table C.3 for 

full results of staff questionnaire responses. Chapter 4 discusses this relationship in more detail 

from both the participant and supervisor perspective. 

One area of variation among the programs was in the degree to which supervisors were integrated 

with other CEO staff members. In New York City, there was less direct communication between 

supervisors and other staff members, and most communication occurred through participants’ 

Passport to Success (described in Box 3.4). In the smaller replication programs, in contrast, worksite supervisors tended to be more integrated with the office-based staff. For example, work-site 

supervisors were included in weekly staff meetings, which was not the case in New York City. 

Job Coaching 

The role of the CEO job coach is to work with new participants and those who are not considered 

“job-start ready” to help them get ready to search and interview for unsubsidized positions. A participant’s job-start-ready status is determined after he completes CEO’s Life Skills Education class. 
The job-start-ready assessment gauges whether 

the participant has addressed his most basic 

needs and barriers to employment (such as 

housing, identification, mental health, and 

alcohol or drug abuse) and has demonstrated 

an attitude that suggests he could present himself well in an interview and on the job. Across 

programs, staff members reported that the 

majority of participants are determined to be 

job-start ready shortly after they begin working on CEO’s crews.

Job coaches work with those participants who 

aren’t yet job-start ready during weekly meetings to focus on overcoming barriers to employment, preparing documents, and doing 

some basic preparation for applications and 

interviews. Once an individual is deemed to 

be job-start ready, she no longer works with 

the job coach and spends office time working 

with a job developer looking for or preparing 

for job interviews. 

As Table 3.1 shows, almost 90 percent of those who enrolled in CEO received a job-start-ready assessment and 65 percent of participants were determined to be job-start ready at some point during 

their participation. A similarly high number — about 80 percent — met with a job coach at least 

once; participants who worked in a transitional job had an average of 2.4 meetings with a job coach 

before exiting the program or moving on to work with a job developer. Interestingly, the number of 

job coach meetings in New York City (3.2 per participant) was noticeably higher than the average 

number of meetings in the replication programs (1.5). This is likely connected to the fact that more 

participants in the replication sites were deemed to be job-start ready than was the case in New York 

(about 76 percent compared with 65 percent). 

The research team’s interviews with staff members across the replication programs revealed that this 

model component appeared to be implemented fairly consistently. Job coaches at multiple replication programs discussed working with participants on issues such as punctuality, staying on task, 

and managing personality conflicts with coworkers and supervisors. Job coaches also worked with 

participants on more basic challenges such as obtaining transportation, gathering proper documents 

and identification, gaining housing assistance, and addressing substance abuse. 

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model | 3 1

Job Placement

Participants begin meeting with job developers once they have been determined to be job-start ready. 

The role of the job developer is twofold: First, he or she is responsible for cultivating relationships 

with employers in order to identify job openings that may or may not be advertised, and then match-
ing appropriate participants with those openings. Second, job developers work with participants 

to provide job leads, conduct mock interviews, guide them through the application and interview 

process, and, in some cases, follow up with employers after a participant has applied or interviewed.

Job developers across the replication programs approached their job in subtly different ways. In 

some cases, they appeared to focus mostly on their work preparing participants for the job search 

and interview process, placing the responsibility for finding openings on the participant. In other 

cases, they worked aggressively with employers to find and carve out positions for participants. 

Similarly, some job developers took a supportive, motivational approach in their interactions with 

participants, while others were more strict and tough in enforcing their expectations of participants 

and encouraging participants to take responsibility for their own progress. In all cases, though, job 

developers kept a book of employer contacts and reported making regular outreach calls to maintain 

relationships with employers that had hired participants in the past. 

Table 3.3 shows a total of 15 job developers’ responses to a series of questions about how they spent 

their time working with employers and participants. The results are consistent with the activities 

job developers reported in interviews and that participants identified in interviews. There were a few 

tasks which almost all of the job developers indicated they made a high priority. Specifically, 14 out of 

15 job developers reported that they performed the following tasks “all the time” or “often”: helping 

participants decide which jobs to look for; helping participants prepare for an interview with a specific 

employer; discussing specific participants with a potential employer; making contact with employers 

to inquire about job openings; and following up with employers after participants’ interviews. It is 

particularly notable that caseload sizes for job developers in New York City are substantially higher 

than those in the replication programs. On average, the four New York City job developers reported 

that they were working with 43 participants compared with just 13 among the 11 job developers in 

the replication programs (not shown in Table 3.3). Nonetheless, for the most part, job developers in 

New York City reported providing services similar to those in the replication programs. 

Table 3.1 shows that about 56 percent of participants in New York City and 72 percent in the replication programs met with a job developer at least once. Among those who worked in a transitional job 

at some point, the average number of meetings was about 3.8. In interviews, nearly all participants 

were enthusiastic about the work the job developers put in on their behalf, while acknowledging 

that the responsibility for finding a job was ultimately their own. Participants particularly valued 

the preparation for job interviews they received. One said, “I used to go in an interview and be very 

nervous, very nervous. Now, I just go right on in there and let them know I’m confident, this is what 

I want to do.... Whatever you give me, I can handle it.” Another participant, a woman in Tulsa, was 

effusive in describing what she learned about talking to employers on the phone and in interviews: 

“I learned to be bubbly. When you talk on the phone you’ve got to be bubbly.”

Job-Retention Services

Those participants who find unsubsidized work through CEO become eligible for the program’s 

Rapid Rewards retention incentives. These incentives — a series of American Express cash card payments distributed monthly for retaining a job for up to a year — are intended to keep participants 

linked to the program so that CEO can continue to assist them should they lose their jobs for any 

3 2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
TABLE 3.3 Job Developer Tasks and Responsibilities

MEASURE ALL PROGRAMS

Number of job placement specialists responding "all of the time" or "often" when asked how often they:

Help participants decide what kinds of jobs to look for 14

Help participants prepare a résumé or fill out a job application 12

Help participants practice job interviewing skills 13

Help participants prepare for an interview with a particular employer 14

Schedule interviews for participants 13

Discuss specific participants with a potential employer 14

Make contact with employers to inquire about job openings 14

Make contact with employers to inquire about job openings for a specific participant 14

Discuss a participant's transitional job experience with employers 12

Follow up with an employer after a participant's interview 14

Follow up with an employer after a participant's hire 13

Average number of participants job developer is currently working with to find

an unsubsidized job 21.1

Average number of participants job developer referred to specific job openings

in the past week 10.2

Sample size 15

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO staff nd supervisor questionnaire.

Fidelity and Adaptation: Replication of the CEO Model | 3 3

reason. The payments are offered to participants who are working at least 20 hours per week and are 

handed out once the participant furnishes proof of employment (such as a pay stub). The amount 

of the reward varies depending on the month, with the largest award being $300 at the 12-month 

milestone; participants can receive up to $1,000 in total over the course of a year.

In the replication programs, every individual placed in a full-time job receives Rapid Rewards and 

is assigned a retention specialist. In New York City, because of the program’s larger caseloads, all 

participants are eligible for Rapid Rewards, but only individuals in categories considered to be at 

higher risk of losing their jobs (for example, young adults) are assigned retention specialists as soon 
as they are placed in a permanent job. Other participants are provided these services only after six 

months of continuous employment.

Table 3.1 shows the rates at which participants placed in unsubsidized jobs received Rapid Rewards 

payments. Most people who worked an unsubsidized job received at least one Rapid Rewards payment. The proportion receiving a payment was higher in the replication programs (92 percent) than 

in the New York City program (78 percent). On average, each person who received Rapid Rewards 

was paid about $175 over a maximum follow-up period of 12 months.

CONCLUSION

As Chapter 1 discussed, a central goal in replicating the CEO model was to achieve the same impact 

on the life prospects of former prisoners as was demonstrated in the original evaluation of the New 

York City program. That impact could not be achieved without effective program implementation, 

and this fidelity and implementation assessment has shown that the replication programs have accomplished that. 

As discussed here and in Chapter 1, CEO is most effective for people who have been recently released 

from incarceration (within the previous three months) and those at the highest risk of recidivism. In 

most CEO programs, many people enroll within seven to nine months of release and risk assessments 

have not been used regularly to determine eligibility or to deliver services. A number of factors may 

make it difficult for programs to restrict eligibility: Programs may have to respond to the needs of 

referring agencies and adhere to funder requirements to serve a minimum number of people, and may 

also need a minimum number of people to operate work crews. CEO managers and staff members 

are aware of the findings of the earlier study and are working actively to increase the proportion of 

their client population who meet the targeted characteristics. For example, as mentioned in Chapter 

1, the New York City program is now part of a Pay for Success project, in partnership with the New 

York State Department of Corrections, that includes a formalized referral mechanism to ensure that 

over the next couple of years, Corrections will only refer people to the CEO program as part of the 

release process if they have been assessed to be at moderate or high risk of recidivism.4

Beyond this issue of targeting, however, all core components of the CEO model have been implemented in five replication programs with generally high fidelity to the model. While there was variation in some aspects — such as the work performed by the work crews and the approaches of job 

developers — and certain replication programs had more success than others in their partnerships 

with parole and probation agencies, the basic intervention was the same for participants across all 

programs. Interviews with staff members at each program also revealed general consistency in their 

understanding of CEO’s mission and target population, and in the emphasis they placed on helping 

participants find and maintain unsubsidized employment. 

4. The New York State Department of Corrections uses COMPAS, a validated risk- and needs-assessment tool, to 

measure each person’s risk level upon release from state prison facilities.

3 4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
CH

4

APTER

Participant Perspectives on the CEO Experience

INTRODUCTION

As Chapter 1 described, the primary goals of this study are, first, to assess how the model was replicated in the five cities involved in the evaluation and, second, to gain a deeper understanding of 

the perceptions and experiences of Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) participants, as a 

way to further inform hypotheses about the mechanisms through which CEO reduces recidivism.

This chapter describes the results from a series of interviews and questionnaires motivated by the 

second goal. It outlines the opinions participants expressed about the program’s value and about 

how CEO is helping them find employment and stay out of prison. 

As discussed in Chapter 1, there were a number of possible reasons why CEO may have lowered recidivism in the earlier impact study when other transitional jobs programs did not. One theory points 

to the work-crew experience and the positive influence of site supervisors and peers as the central 

factor. Through the work-crew model, CEO participants may have connected with staff members 

and coworkers more than participants in other programs did, and these positive influences, in turn, 

may have affected their attitudes and behaviors.1

The questionnaires and interviews discussed in this chapter were designed to explore which aspects 

of CEO participants thought were most helpful as they transitioned from prison to the community.2

DESCRIPTION OF TABLES AND MEASURES

Table 4.1 presents results from the participant questionnaires. Measures were created from questions 

that asked participants to respond to statements related to CEO. Respondents were asked to check 

as many responses as they felt applied to the statement: “As a result of CEO...” The responses are 

1. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012).

2. Similar participant questionnaires are being administered in other evaluations and will be presented in future 

reports. 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 3 5
TABLE 4.1 Participants’ Outlook on Employment and Well-Being

STATEMENT AGREE/STRONGLY AGREE (%)

OUTLOOK ON EMPLOYMENT

I feel prepared to find a new job. 72.9

I have better job skills. 72.4

I am better at working with others. 67.4

I feel better able to handle responsibilities and challenges in my personal life

so that they don't get in the way of my job. 60.2

SENSE OF PERSONAL WELL-BEING

My self-esteem has improved. 58.6

I have a greater sense of well-being. 58.0

I feel better able to meet my basic needs. 48.6

I feel more in control of my finances. 48.1

My relationships with my family members are better. 39.2

Sample size 184

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO participant questionnaire.

NOTES: Calculations for this table do not include participant responses from CEO Albany.

 The table shows the percentage of questionnaire respondents who agreed with each statement. Respondents were 

instructed to select all statements that applied to them.

3 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

divided into two categories: The first relates to participants’ outlook on employment and the second 

relates to their outlook on their personal well-being. Appendix Table C.2 provides responses to the 

full participant questionnaire.

Table 4.2 shows the percentage of participants who responded to a series of survey questions with 

“agree” or “strongly agree.” These questions focused on particpants’ level of support at work, their 

relationships with coworkers, and their perceived degree of preparation for future employment. Item 

responses were based on a scale from 1 (indicating that the respondent “strongly disagreed” with 

the statement) to 7 (indicating that the respondent “strongly agreed”). Appendix Table D.1 includes 

all individual responses from Table 4.2.

Table 4.3 presents additional results from the participant questionnaires. Item responses are based 

on the same seven-point scale, and include the mean score across all responses. 
TABLE 4.2 Participants’ Perspectives on Support, Relationships,

and Preparation for Future Employment

STATEMENT

AGREE/STRONGLY 

AGREE (%) MEAN SCORE

I RECEIVE SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE AT WORK. 86.7 6.5

I know whom at work to ask for help when I need it.

I get the support or guidance that I need from my supervisor.

I understand what is expected of me on the job.

My supervisor gives me advice about how to handle situations at work.

MY RELATIONSHIPS WITH CURRENT COWORKERS ARE POSITIVE. 79.8 6.2

My relationships with coworkers are positive and supportive.

My coworkers understand me and want me to succeed.

CEO PROVIDES PREPARATION FOR FUTURE EMPLOYMENT. 74.7 6.1

I am learning how to cooperate better with supervisors.

This job has helped me learn to present myself better at work.

I am learning how to work better with coworkers.

I have met people through this job who may help me find a job in the future.

The kind of work I am doing will help me get a decent-paying job later.

I am learning specific job skills that I will use in the future.

Sample size 184

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO participant questionnaire.

NOTES: The measures presented in this table (“I receive support and guidance at work,” “my relationships with current 

coworkers are positive,” and “CEO provides preparation for future employment”) were created based on an exploratory 

factor analysis of a pool of question responses. The questions asked participants about their level of agreement with 

a particular statement on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 indicated strong disagreement and 7 indicated strong agreement. 

Based on the results of the factor analysis, questions were grouped into composite measures and a mean score was 

calculated across the questions included in a given composite. The percentages above represent the proportions of 

questionnaire respondents who averaged scores of 6 or higher on the questions in that composite measure, indicating 

a high level of satisfaction with their program experiences in that area.

 Calculations for this table do not include participant responses from CEO Albany.

Participant Perspectives on the CEO Experience | 3 7

FINDINGS FROM QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS

• The structure CEO provided of daily paid work addressed an acute need participants felt after 

leaving prison. 

Across several interviews, participants consistently pointed to the value of having “something to do” 

with their day. Perhaps more than any single component of the model, participants appreciated the 

sense of engagement that CEO provided, with several participants noting that they would likely be 
TABLE 4.3 Participants’ Other Reflections on CEO 

STATEMENT

AGREE/STRONGLY 

AGREE (%) MEAN SCORE

Overall, I feel better about myself since beginning this job. 81.0 6.3

My supervisor helps me if personal issues come up. 69.0 5.9

I am satisfied in this job. 63.0 5.7

Without CEO, I would likely still be unemployed. 58.2 NA

Without CEO, I would likely be back in prison. 23.4 NA

Sample size 184

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO participant questionnaire.

NOTES: Calculations for this table do not include participant responses from CEO Albany.

 The second-to-last column shows the percentage of participants who selected 6 or 7 on a 7-point 

scale where 1 = “strongly disagree” and 7 = “strongly agree.” The last column shows the average overall 

score participants gave the statement, based on the same 7-point scale. NA = not available

3 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

idle, growing frustrated with searching for jobs on their own, or — in a few cases — “maybe doing 

some illegal things” if they were not participating. 

The structure of CEO — particularly the work crews — provided participants with a consistent 

schedule, one that many, especially those who had been incarcerated for a long time, needed in order to provide stability in their lives. One participant spoke specifically about the structure of the 

work crews: “Well, with the work crews, [gave] me some — I can say structure. You know, getting 

me up in the morning ... looking forward to doing something and making things better, as far as 

the schools that need to be cleaned up and painted.” Another participant, who had recently been 

released after eight years in prison, articulated what many participants seemed to feel: “In prison but 

you have everything you need. You’re told when to eat. You’ve got food. You’re told when to sleep. 

You’ve got structure in your life. You get out here and it’s just ... wide open, no structure, and people 

need structure when they get out.”

Not surprisingly perhaps, the daily pay was instrumental in generating this sense of structure and 

stability. The daily paycheck is a distinctive component of the CEO model, and several participants 

said it served as an incentive to continue participating. While most participants acknowledged that 

the amount of the paycheck is small (and for many, even less after child support was taken out), the 

daily check helped. One participant explained: “When my parole officer told me about the daily 

paycheck [at CEO], even though it’s $40 a day, it helps. It helps tremendously ... but I need more.” 

Another participant also recognized the small amount of the paycheck, but appreciated that it was 

something: “You get paid every day. I mean, it’s not a lot of money, but it’s some money.” 
In addition to the daily pay, some participants explicitly noted the benefit of the transitional work. 

For example, one participant who had previously gone through a different reentry program that 

didn’t include paid work said, “With CEO, they equip you with on-the-job training for a period of 

time [and] you’re getting paid. So it gives you an incentive to try to acquire a skill and effort of better 

supporting you beyond the CEO program. [The other program] wasn’t — I mean they don’t send 

you to a job where there’s on-the-job training where you’re going to get paid.”

Interestingly, while several participants did acknowledge that the daily paycheck provided an incentive for participation (and often referred to their CEO participation as “a job”), the paycheck did not 

appear to go far toward meeting their basic needs or helping them gain a sense of control over their 

finances. As Table 4.1 shows, fewer than half of participants agreed that they felt “better able to meet 

my basic needs” as a result of CEO or that “I feel more in control of my finances” as a result of CEO. 

From these questionnaire and interview responses, it appears that the paycheck functioned more as 

an incentive to participate than as a substantial means of support for participants or their families. 

• Participants also identified the safety and support staff members provided as a critical aspect 

of the program.

Not all participants who were interviewed had previously participated in employment or casemanagement programs. Among those who had though, there was wide agreement that the combination of the crews and the office staff provided a distinctively supportive and safe environment in 

which participants felt motivated and uplifted. 

One of the first participants to be interviewed noted this aspect of the experience: “It’s a place where 

you’re safe. You’re actually safe. You get a chance to be you, for real.... You’ve got a chance to do 

all the things that you might not want to do when you’re out there hanging with your men on the 

corner, like taking responsibility or picking up a piece of paper.” Another participant expressed a 

similar point when describing the experience of having a small community of people assisting her 

and working on her behalf. She said she valued the experience of having “people trying to help you 

and not judge you from your background or anything that ... happened in the past. Just people that 

believe in you and that take the time out to want to actually help you get a job — that really was 

encouraging. Because when you’re in prison and you get out, the first thing you think is, ‘Oh, I’m 

not gonna get a job. I’m a convict.’ So, they [CEO] make you feel confident enough that it’s gonna 

happen if you want it to happen.” 

Along these lines, the work crews also offered participants an opportunity to develop a small network of relationships with their coworkers. Although these relationships were not a central topic in 

interviews, participants generally noted that there was a benefit to working alongside people with 

similar backgrounds and experiences, who could understand their background without needing to 

have it explained. As one participant put it, “People that work for CEO can kind of relate, because 

we’re all in sort of in the same situation.” Another, when describing a job he had lost prior to coming 

to CEO, identified the loss of that previous job network as a factor in his decision to commit a new 

crime that sent him back to prison: “Because I [had] no work and no one to talk to or network with, 

I caught a DWI.” This participant also said that CEO was valuable to him in large part because it 

functioned as a support community of people who were trying to help him and who had had similar 

Participant Perspectives on the CEO Experience | 3 9
life experiences: “[Before CEO] I didn’t have anyone that I could go and talk to. I didn’t have anyone that was going to assist me and help me with employment. I didn’t have anyone to speak about 

anything personably with me, [like the] participants here.”

The nature of these relationships can be seen in the participant questionnaires as well, with around 

80 percent of participants reporting in Table 4.2 that their relationships with coworkers were generally positive and supportive and that their coworkers understood them and wanted them to succeed.

• While work crews rarely incorporated formal mentoring, participants valued the feedback 

they received from supervisors, and felt they were developing positive work habits through 

the transitional job. 

As noted, one of the hypotheses from the first CEO study was that the small work-crew model 

encouraged an interpersonal relationship between work-site supervisors and participants. This 

relationship may have even fostered an unintentional or even subconscious mentoring relationship 

between supervisors and participants. Interviews with staff members and participants suggested 

that formal mentoring was not an explicit aspect of the work on the crews. It was clear, however, 

that participants felt supported by supervisors and received valuable guidance on the job. As Table 

4.2 shows, around 87 percent of participants indicated that they got the support and guidance they 

needed from their supervisors, knew whom to ask for help at work, understood what was expected 

of them on the job, and got advice from supervisors about how to handle situations at work. 

Participants also felt that they could talk with supervisors about personal issues when they came 

up. As Table 4.3 shows, almost 70 percent of participants felt that they were able to talk with their 

supervisors about personal problems. Interestingly, only 38 percent of supervisors identified their 

role as “helping participants address personal problems that get in the way of work” (as shown in 

Table 3.2). It is clear that participants felt their supervisors supported them in dealing with personal 

issues, even if the supervisors themselves didn’t intend for that to be the case or recognize that this 

was how participants perceived them. It is interesting to note that among the CEO staff members 

who responded to the survey, almost 20 percent reported that they had been previously incarcerated, 

and almost 30 percent reported that they had received public assistance in the past. (See Appendix 

Table D.2, Program Staff Background Characteristics.) It is possible that participants connected 

with staff members because some of them came from similar backgrounds. It is also likely that staff 

members’ and participants’ conversations went beyond job-related matters during informal settings 

or in down time between task-oriented jobs, and that these interactions reinforced a sense of shared 

experience, learning, and support.

Beyond personal support, participants also pointed to the value of the Passport to Success and some 

of the work habits they had learned on the work crews. One participant, discussing the Passport to 

Success, said, “what makes it a positive experience for me is just getting feedback from [my supervisor] and people telling [me that I’m] doing a good job, you know, being able to look back and see 

where you was at in the past.... It gives you a great sense of accomplishment and determination.” 

Another described the way he came to appreciate, after several conflicts with a strict site supervisor, 

that jobs sometimes require enduring conflicts with supervisors and coworkers and that he would 

need to get over these conflicts to succeed at work: “After a while, I understood what he liked — he 

4 0 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
liked to work, and he liked to get the job done. So, after I figured that out, then I was just, like, you 

know, this is what he likes. If this was a supervisor at another job ... then I’d have to buckle down, 

you know, and just abide the rules. So, that’s one thing I actually learned.”

• Participants believed that the individual job-search assistance and work-crew experience left 

them better prepared for future work. 

It was clear from interviews with participants that CEO had adequately communicated the goals 

of the program to them. In almost all cases, participants understood their responsibilities in the 

job-search process and understood that the ultimate goal was permanent, unsubsidized work, not 

simply a temporary paycheck. Results from the questionnaires and interviews also suggest that the 

experience did leave participants feeling more prepared for their next job, both in terms of on-thejob performance and preemployment preparation (such as résumé development, interviewing skills, 

and increased discipline in the job-search process). 

Table 4.2 shows that close to 75 percent of participants agreed or strongly agreed with a series of 

statements about their preparation for future employment. Among other things, they felt that CEO 

was helping them learn to get along with coworkers and supervisors and to present themselves appropriately at work, and they had a sense that the people they met through CEO (coworkers and 

staff members) would be helpful to them in their future job searches. Additionally, Table 4.1 shows 

that over 70 percent agreed that, as a result of CEO, they felt more prepared to find a new job and 

had better job skills. Just under 70 percent agreed that they were better able to work with others. 

Participants did not agree as much with the statement that CEO had left them better able to handle 

their personal responsibilities and challenges so that they didn’t get in the way of their jobs. (This 

finding is discussed in more detail in the next section.) 

As noted above, the work crews allowed participants to acquaint themselves with workplace norms 

and learn how to get along better with coworkers and supervisors. As one participant said, “I just 

learned self-control, patience, and how to respect the higher authority, you know?” 

Participants also repeatedly pointed to the preparation they received in interviewing skills and jobsearch skills through their work with job coaches and job developers. One man described the work he 

did with his job developer to improve his interview skills and presentation, saying his job developer 

would consistently remind him, “‘Come to your mock interview. Always come dressed. Always be 

prepared to go to a job interview. Always ... keep your hygiene up, keep your appearance nice. Keep 

your hair cut and shaved and stuff because you never know when someone might call you for an 

interview.’ She used to constantly stay on me about that. And I did.” The same participant described 

the experience of learning how to talk about his past conviction, saying the job developer would ask 

him interview questions and then coach him on how to improve his answers: “She’s like, okay, look, 

that question you just answered, don’t answer it like that. Let’s put it in these words, and I would 

put it in [those words], and I would feel comfortable when I say it the way she told me to say it.”

Virtually all of the participants who were interviewed valued this coaching in how to go through 

a job interview, with several of them pointing out the way their confidence improved through the 

process. One participant, for example, said, “Now it’s like when you go to an interview, you feel more 

Participant Perspectives on the CEO Experience | 4 1
confident you’re going to get the job, even if you don’t have any experience. It’s just as long as you 

got that ready-to-work ethic.”

As noted earlier, most participants understood their responsibilities in the job-search process and 

understood that they had to work with job developers to demonstrate that they were ready to work 

in unsubsidized work environments and committed to doing so. Sometimes job developers were not 

able to match job leads with participants’ interests, particularly when a participant lacked experience or training and when the transitional job period didn’t allow sufficient time for the individual 

to develop these skills. Some interviewees expressed frustration that job developers were not able to 

match jobs with their fields of interest, leading them to believe that the job developers were unable 

to help them in the way they desired. The majority of the interviewees, however, appeared to understand that ultimately it was their responsibility to secure jobs, and that the job developers tried 

their best to match them with jobs appropriate to their job background and experience. 

• In spite of the structure CEO provided and the support it offered for employment preparation, 

participants still had numerous challenges and unmet needs related to their past incarceration. 

When speaking with staff members in the field of reentry and employment programs for disadvantaged 

communities, it is not uncommon to hear that participants come in with unrealistic expectations 

about what those programs can help them accomplish. Often, staff members say that they have to 

manage overly lofty employment goals and coach participants to take a hard look at the jobs they 

are qualified for, based on their experience and their barriers to employment. It was notable, then, 

that participants in CEO appeared to have a clear sense of what the program was — and was not — 

designed to address, with most participants clearly acknowledging their own responsibility in the 

process and most expressing a humble appreciation for the small paycheck (as Chapter 3 described). 

It is probably a consequence of this narrowly defined mission that some of the lowest “agree” responses 

on questionnaires related to improvements in participants’ broader well-being. As Table 4.1 shows, 

roughly half of the participants reported a greater sense of overall well-being or felt better able to 

meet their basic needs as a result of CEO, and fewer than 40 percent indicated that the program 

had resulted in improved family relationships. Participants described a variety of challenges and 

responsibilities related to housing, transportation, managing supervision fees and appointments, and 

generally maintaining the discipline to avoid returning to old behaviors. It was often when describing 

these other pressures that participants expressed appreciation for the structure of CEO, but these 

other pressures were also often the reasons participants dropped out of CEO or lost unsubsidized 

work they had found through the program. 

Participants also discussed the experience of being physically or emotionally “ready” for the multiple 

tasks required of them to rebuild their lives upon release, including — in addition to their parole 

supervision obligations — attending mandated classes, obtaining proper identification, and reconnecting with family and friends. After leaving the structured environment of prison, many said that 

to manage this new schedule of responsibilities and challenges one must take things slowly in order 

to avoid getting overwhelmed or falling back into old patterns. As one interviewee succinctly put 

it, “People got to take teeny baby steps.... Especially after a bunch of time [in prison] you can’t just 

get out and just go straight into it.” Another interviewee spoke about what happened when he lost 

4 2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
discipline after he was first released: “Well, when I got released, I was moving so fast. Being locked 

up six-and-a-half years, I was, you know, I was excited. But at the same time, I was careless. I was 

real careless with my decisions. I wasn’t thinking. And then when [I violated my parole] I came [back 

out] with a different mentality.3

 I had to man up and take care of my responsibilities, have that selfdiscipline in my life. You know what I’m saying? That’s what helps me strive to be better every day.” 

CONCLUSION

Participants’ responses to the questionnaires and interviews confirm that their experiences in CEO 

are generally in line with the core goals of the program: to develop work skills and prepare people 

for outside employment. It is clear that participants felt they were learning valuable skills from both 

crew supervisors and office staff members and that they were being well prepared for future employment. The interviews and questionnaires demonstrate what a structured support network can 

provide to people exiting prison and navigating all of the challenges and responsibilities stemming 

from their incarceration. CEO participants did not identify a single component of the model that 

particularly stood out for them, suggesting that CEO’s value stems from its unique combination of: 

(1) paid, structured work alongside coworkers from similar backgrounds and (2) qualified office 

staff members whom participants believe to be devoted to respectfully helping them prepare for 

interviews and job searches.

3. Parole violation occurs when a person breaks the terms or conditions of parole. A parole violation may result in 

significant penalties such as heavy fines, extended parole, or jail time. 

Participant Perspectives on the CEO Experience | 4 3

CH

5

APTER

Conclusion

A

lthough there are strong practical reasons to believe that employment plays an important 

role in reducing the likelihood of recidivism when prisoners are released, research has 

shown that the relationship between employment and recidivism is complex. In the past 

decade, a total of five large-scale random assignment studies of transitional jobs programs 

serving individuals recently released from prison have been conducted, including the previous Center 

for Employment Opportunities (CEO) study.1

 These evaluations found that transitional jobs programs 

are successful at providing jobs to people leaving prison and that many would not have worked if 

not for the program jobs. The findings also showed that the programs do substantially raise employment during the period when participants are enrolled. But most of the programs did not improve 

recidivism outcomes, even when there were substantial short-term improvements in employment. 

At a minimum, this pattern indicates that the connection between work and crime is not straightforward. Among the transitional jobs programs evaluated, only CEO showed improvements in 

participants’ recidivism outcomes over the long term. These impacts lasted longer than the employment effects and were concentrated in specific subgroups of the population: those who were 

recently released, more disadvantaged (with low education levels and employment histories), and at 

the highest risk of recidivism when they started the program.

These findings are consistent with evidence from the larger criminal justice field. Few studies show 

a direct causal relationship between employment and recidivism.2

 But research does support the 

notion that employment can effectively reduce recidivism if employment service providers address 

individuals’ antisocial attitudes and beliefs associated with crime, many of which also affect their 

ability to succeed in the workplace.3

 One hypothesis for CEO’s impacts on recidivism originated from 

this theoretical perspective. To shed light on the mechanisms responsible for CEO’s impacts on recidivism, this report set out to gather information on the experiences and perceptions of participants. 

As discussed in Chapter 1, the earlier evaluation of CEO hypothesized that perhaps its work crews 

mimicked elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been shown to improve the attitudes 

1. Redcross, Millenky, Rudd, and Levshin (2012); Redcross et al. (2010).

2. Wilson, Gallagher, and MacKenzie (2000); Latessa (2012). 

3. Latessa (2012).

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 4 5
and behaviors of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated participants, leading to reductions in crime.4

Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques include modeling prosocial behaviors, role playing, and 

other forms of active learning, which are also important underlying elements of the roles CEO staff 

members play in supervising people on work sites.5

 Further, both job coaches and job developers 

often reported using role-playing techniques when helping participants practice for job interviews. 

In exploring that theory as part of this study, it was interesting to find that while supervisors did 

not report providing formal coaching, mentoring, or advice to participants about controlling their 

responses or impulsive reactions, participants nonetheless felt their supervisors (as well as other 

staff members) played a supportive role in their lives that otherwise would not have been filled. 

Participants also reported receiving both personal and professional advice from supervisors at 

much higher rates than supervisors reported “helping participants address personal problems that 

get in the way of work.” This discrepancy in perceptions between staff members and participants 

suggests that, as suspected, if staff members’ influences, supervision practices, or relationships with 

participants did play a role in CEO’s success in reducing recidivism, it was an unintentional effect. 

CEO is continuing to experiment with variations and enhancements to its service delivery model, 

approaching behavior change in a more purposeful manner. For example, in recent years, CEO has 

placed greater emphasis upon training office staff members to use motivational interviewing techniques in their work with participants. 6

 Currently, MDRC and CEO are working with the University 

of Cincinnati to develop a new cognitive behavioral therapy curriculum that builds upon traditional 

adult-learning and behavior-modification techniques with an emphasis on employment and job readiness. These workshops are designed to formally address behavior change in the context of work. A 

second aspect of this newly developed, behaviorally focused component involves training work-site 

supervisors to incorporate aspects of so-called “core correctional practices” with participants while 

on the work sites.7

 It will be interesting to see how site supervisors, who have tended to focus on the 

task at hand, will bring these techniques into their work.

4. There is growing evidence that traditional cognitive behavioral therapy interventions are effective in helping 

former prisoners identify and change patterns of behavior that have led to conflict and incarceration, thereby 

reducing their likelihood of reoffending. See Milkman and Wanberg (2007).

5. As noted in Chapter 1, “prosocial” activities are the antithesis of antisocial behaviors such as substance use. 

Prosocial activities include church participation, civic engagement (for example, through a political organization or 

by being registered to vote), volunteer participation, and involvement in social clubs.

6. Motivational interviewing is a method for changing behavior by developing inner motivation. The aim of this 

approach is to help clients identify and change behaviors that make it harder for them to achieve their personal 

goals.

7. Core correctional practices are designed to give corrections staff embers the ability to interact more effectively 

with offenders and manage behavior. These practices include anticriminal modeling, effective reinforcement and 

disapproval, problem-solving techniques, structured learning procedures to build skills, effective use of authority, 

cognitive self-change, relationship practices, and motivational interviewing. See Washington State Department of 

Corrections (2015).

4 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
INTEGRATING EMPLOYMENT AND REENTRY

In the future, it will be important for CEO to improve its targeting — that is, to increase the proportion of its participants who are enrolled shortly after their release from prison and who are formally 

assessed to be at moderate to high risk of recidivism. Results from the earlier CEO evaluation and 

evidence from other studies of criminal-justice interventions show that it is important to direct 

services at those who can benefit from them the most, and to avoid wasting those intensive services 

on people who already have a low risk of recidivism. In fact, intensive services can have negative 

effects on people at low risk.8

The Council of State Governments Justice Center recently published a document designed to help 

government agencies and workforce service providers integrate reentry and employment services in 

a meaningful way, so that they can use their limited resources efficiently and make sure individuals 

receive the appropriate level of services to meet their needs.9

 This strategy incorporates principles 

that have been shown to be effective in serving individuals involved in the criminal justice system, 

and that were supported by findings from the recent evaluations of CEO and other transitional 

employment programs for ex-offenders. 

The basic premise of the document is that service providers working with individuals leaving incarceration should obtain risk and needs assessments on the people they serve from corrections agencies, 

so that they can direct services to the people who can benefit from them the most: those who are 

the most disadvantaged, least job-ready, and at the highest risk of recidivism. As the authors write, 

“These assessments provide information necessary for maximizing limited services, by helping both 

workforce professionals and corrections professionals match the right people with the right services.”10

It can be difficult to identify and recruit the most appropriate people, as CEO is experiencing in its 

replication programs. Working with local corrections agencies to do so requires collaboration and 

flexibility, as discussed in Appendix A. Furthermore, parole and probation officers may not reach 

the same conclusions about the services individuals need as the corrections agencies’ assessments, or 

may not prefer that clients receive the types of services a replication program is capable of providing. 

Nonetheless, CEO has already made strides in targeting the right service population through its 

participation in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Pay for Success initiative. As part of that initiative, 

CEO’s New York City and Rochester programs will be undergoing another random assignment evaluation in the next few years. The findings from that evaluation will determine whether CEO has been 

effective in replicating its earlier success in reducing recidivism, and will help determine whether 

recent changes have made CEO more effective at improving participants’ long-term employment. 

The project, which includes a close partnership with the New York State Department of Corrections, 

ensures that parolees are referred to the program through a formal mechanism immediately upon 

8. Duran, Plotkin, Potter, and Rosen (2013).

9. Duran, Plotkin, Potter, and Rosen (2013).

10. Duran, Plotkin, Potter, and Rosen (2013).

Conclusion | 4 7
release and explicitly targets those assessed by Corrections as being at moderate or high risk of 

recidivism. Early results from that evaluation are due in 2017. 

SUMMARY AND LOOKING AHEAD

The findings from this study confirm that CEO has effectively implemented the core components 

of its model in five additional locations. Despite minor variations, the research team found that all 

core components were in place in the replication programs and that participants across the replication programs received comparable services and had comparable experiences. 

This study also set out to shed light on the possible mechanisms for CEO’s impacts on recidivism. The 

research team approached this question using qualitative techniques, including in-depth interviews 

with participants, to gain a deeper understanding of how participants experienced the program, how 

the program fit into their lives after prison, and which pieces they identified as the most valuable to 

them. Not surprisingly, the findings suggested that participants valued the transitional job, primarily because of the structure it provided them day to day. A small proportion of participants felt they 

were receiving training that would help them with future employment, but for most participants, 

CEO offered a paycheck and a structured routine during a difficult transition period. 

Interestingly, the results from this study accord with the earlier finding that participants felt supported by staff members and felt they were receiving advice that applied to both professional and 

personal challenges they encountered. Few staff members reported giving such advice to participants, 

which is consistent with CEO’s focus on employment. If participants’ thoughts and behaviors were 

influenced by CEO staff members, it was likely an unintentional effect. 

In the next couple of years, results from the Pay for Success project’s evaluation of CEO’s New York 

City program will be released and will provide valuable information to the field about whether the 

findings from the first random assignment can be replicated and whether improvements in CEO’s 

targeting strategies lead to even larger reductions in recidivism. CEO continues to build upon the 

hypothesis from the earlier study by seeking ways to train staff members in innovative strategies 

intended to address thinking and behaviors directly. MDRC is working with CEO to develop and 

evaluate an innovative cognitive behavioral therapy curriculum being designed by the University 

of Cincinnati Corrections Institute to address thinking and behavior change in the context of employment services.

By early 2016 findings will be available from the latest large-scale random assignment demonstration studies of subsidized and transitional employment programs funded by the U.S. Department 

of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of Labor project 

targets recently released prisoners and noncustodial parents and builds on the findings of earlier 

studies, including the CEO evaluation. The programs provide enhancements to services that seek 

to improve upon the earlier models tested. 

4 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APP

A

ENDIX 

The Process of Replicating CEO: An Account 

from CEO’s Executive Director, Sam Schaeffer

For the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), replication efforts began with pilot programs 

in three jurisdictions in upstate New York: Albany, Buffalo, and Rochester.1

 These cities were a priority for New York State, being in counties that had experienced a two- to threefold increase in their 

prisoner reentry populations over the previous decade. Resources from the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (ARRA, also known as the “stimulus”) were available for this expansion, allowing 

CEO to pay for all elements of the program, including, initially, transitional work wages. Eventually, 

however, CEO would need to sustain the operations through contracts with local government agencies and with support from philanthropies. CEO was able to launch each of these offices with a site 

director, two work-crew supervisors, and a full complement of vocational staff members (two job 

developers and a life-skills educator/job coach). 

This early growth process helped the organization learn the most effective staffing, operations, and 

management models for these replication programs, and beginning in New York State offered a particular advantage. CEO’s principal government partners are generally state corrections and parole 

agencies, with secondary partners being state labor agencies. Expanding to upstate New York allowed 

the organization to navigate new geographies within a familiar government milieu. The combination 

of ARRA funding, the known state infrastructure, and the proximity to its headquarters in New 

York City made CEO comfortable with the rapid expansion. In turn, the success of these replication 

programs gave the organization confidence that it could expand outside of New York State.

CRITERIA FOR EXPANSION PROGRAMS

The upstate New York experience also helped CEO develop a set of six growth criteria, or requisite 

conditions for expansion programs. The first three address the market share that CEO must be able 

to establish locally; the remaining three involve knowledge, support, and work-crew customers. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Targeted population. Enough people must be returning home on parole for CEO to operate at 

least two work crews (150 people per year). 

Need for services. CEO must have confidence that it fits a niche in the local reentry service delivery system. 

Criminal justice pipeline. State parole officials and local officers both must commit to referring 

a stream of participants to CEO’s program. 

Local expertise. CEO must have the ability to navigate — by itself or through an intermediary 

— the complexities of state and local governments, political structures, and community/neighborhood dynamics. 

1. During this initial pilot period CEO also operated an office in Westchester focusing on a probation population. That 

office operated for a limited time and was not part of this study.

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 5 1
5 2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands

• Government champion. There must be a strong executive-level government supporter for CEO 

to help launch and sustain the program. Relationships may be built at any level of government 

(federal, state, or local). 

• Transitional job partners. Transitional job providers must be able to substantially cover the costs 

of work crews over time, and must be able to ensure that assignments build basic work skills and 

can be accomplished by participants without particular skills. 

The following are some examples of how these criteria came into play in the selection and operation 

of CEO’s expansion programs in upstate New York, California, and Oklahoma.

TARGETED POPULATION AND NEED FOR SERVICES

In identifying promising cities for expansion outside of New York State, CEO analyzed data on releases onto parole and found that California had more than four times as many as any other state. 

Multiple counties had parole populations between 5,000 and 10,000, numbers larger than several 

states across the country. CEO could be confident that notwithstanding any existing employment 

reentry programs, there would be a need for its services in multiple California communities. In 

addition, a federal judicial panel had recently ordered the state to reduce the size of its prison population, and the state had enacted a law realigning responsibility for state prisoners. (See Box A.1.) 
CEO’s management and board agreed that this combination of factors created strong conditions for 

growth in California.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE PIPELINE

Developing a pipeline bringing people from the criminal justice system to a CEO program generally 

requires three to five meetings with local parole or probation offices, starting with supervisors and 

then moving to line officers. In these meetings, CEO staff members begin identifying the characteristics of the participants the organization aims to serve, based on evidence garnered from the 

random assignment evaluation and CEO’s operational experience: people who are deemed to be at 

high risk of recidivism, who have been recently released (within the past 90 days), who have limited 

or no work experience, who are in need of immediate income, and who have the ability to perform 

manual labor.

CEO policy requires that every participant must be referred by a parole or probation office. CEO 

has found it important to maintain a balance, making a priority of the types of participants for 

whom the program works best without placing so many conditions on entry that parole officers are 

discouraged from making referrals to the program. 

LOCAL EXPERTISE AND GOVERNMENT CHAMPION

CEO’s expansion beyond New York depended on its ability to identify supportive and knowledgeable 

partners in government and in the community. Corrections officials in both California and Oklahoma 

became champions of CEO. In California the secretary of corrections organized an initial meeting 

for CEO with the San Diego County district attorney and others involved in prisoner reentry in that 

community. The fact that CEO was not requesting financial resources from these departments at 

this early point may have made them more receptive to the program.

The George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), based in Tulsa, was an early, strong supporter of 

CEO in Oklahoma. GKFF, which focuses its resources on education, community health, and social 

services, among other areas, initially sought reentry services for women in Tulsa who were involved 

with the justice system. This interest was spurred by Oklahoma having the highest female incarceration rate in the country. But CEO was not confident that it could find adequate market share, given 

existing criminal justice programs for women, or that it could effectively operate a female-only 

program. Instead, GKFF and CEO worked to find a way to serve both men and women while meeting CEO’s growth criteria. In the prelaunch phase of the project, GKFF was instrumental in helping 

CEO develop relationships with both criminal justice and community partners. 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 5 3
TRANSITIONAL JOB PARTNERS 

Transitional jobs customers’ commitment to cover a substantial portion of work-crew expenses is 

an essential criterion for CEO’s replication — and frequently the most time-consuming element.2

To date, all initial work crews necessary to launch a new office have been developed by CEO senior 

management in New York and California. 

The profile of CEO’s work-crew customers in its national expansion has been largely consistent 

with the customers at the flagship in New York City: departments of transportation, public works, 

and housing; local colleges; and other public agencies make up the core customer base. To develop 

work-crew opportunities, CEO has mostly worked with executive-level officials (mayoral and gubernatorial) for initial access to infrastructure agencies that are most likely to need supplemental 

labor. Ultimately, CEO has to sell work crews to individuals who have budgetary authority and 

responsibility for infrastructure maintenance. While they may be sympathetic to CEO’s mission, 

these officials decide to work with the organization based on their agencies’ budgets and needs. 

In some cases, CEO’s replication has yielded new types of work-crew customers and opportunities. 

In Buffalo, CEO developed a relationship with Habitat for Humanity in which crews help build 

homes and prepare home-building sites for the local volunteer labor force. In Tulsa, CEO operates 

a recycling and baling facility on behalf of the local environmental authority. 

In California, CEO’s business development strategy has been to build a work-crew customer base that consists 

of both “anchor” and “venture” customers. Caltrans, the state agency responsible for highway, bridge, and rail 

transportation planning, construction, and maintenance, has been CEO’s anchor customer for all 

three of its California replication programs. Caltrans provides multiyear contracts in which revenue 

covers all work-crew costs. Recognizing the need for a diverse portfolio of customers, CEO is also 

pursuing “venture” customers — ones that might have strategic advantages based on the type of work 

they can offer (high-profile, interesting work assignments) but that might not cover full costs. To 

ensure sustainability, the goal is for each replication program to have work crews serving a balance 

of anchor and venture customers. 

MANAGING EXPANSION

Replication programs are expected to implement CEO’s “essential elements” with fidelity. These include transitional work, providing daily pay, life-skills education, job coaching, job placement, and 

at least six months of job-retention incentives. CEO also identified “negotiable elements,” such as the 

business sectors in which participants are placed and the length of time they spend in transitional 

work. The most leeway is given to replication programs when it comes to the style of job placement 

they employ and the sectors into which they make full-time placements. 

2. A “customer” in this context funds CEO’s work crews.

5 4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
CEO’s New York City office takes responsibility for day-to-day operational and program management, but it has hired local staff members at each of its replication programs to bring in people 

familiar with the local workforce and criminal justice systems. Given that new staff members in 

replication programs have had relatively little time (two to four weeks) between starting work at CEO 

and launching operations, CEO makes every attempt to hire the site director first, so he or she can 

help recruit and train the balance of the team. While CEO requires neither workforce nor criminal 

justice experience, most directors have work history in one of these two domains. 

CEO offers the new staff extensive training in its program, operations, data and systems, and core 

values and organizational culture. CEO also supplies a replication manual with guidelines on the 

administrative aspects of starting up a new office.

Local staff members are expected to monitor performance outcomes on a daily basis and communicate successes and challenges to the national office. Particular emphasis has been placed on 

running crews that meet work-crew customer expectations while providing enriching experiences 

for participants. Vocational performance benchmarks are generally modest in the first year — 105 

enrollments and 40 full-time job placements — typically doubling in the second year.

For offices struggling to meet performance benchmarks, CEO’s New York City office steps in and 

develops performance improvement plans. These corrective actions have resulted in dramatic improvement in at least two offices. To execute the plan, a local director is teamed with a central staff 

member who provides coaching and support both in person and remotely. 

In 2012, CEO tested an alternative to centralized management through an affiliated replication in 

Oakland. Ultimately, this affiliate was unable to meet CEO’s goals, and today CEO operates this 

contract through its central management structure, the same way it does its other replication programs. Box A.2 describes that experience and the lessons it offered.

LESSONS AND LOCAL CHALLENGES

For several reasons, CEO has sought the opportunity to create replication programs in more than 

one city in a state at a time. This strategy leads to operational and funding efficiencies. First, operating in multiple locations means CEO has more to offer state officials, leading to deeper support 

and increased funding opportunities. Second, once managers come to understand a state’s parole 

and workforce policy, that expertise can be transferred to new programs. Third, office proximity 

fosters cross-program learning and training. Finally, a statewide presence has enabled CEO to engage 

in efforts to change policies and systems better than it could as a single-site organization (as it has 

done in working with the California Corrections Advisory Group).

The program model has so far proved readily adaptable to diverse geographies. CEO found that 

despite the geographic differences, the model needed surprisingly little alteration in replication 

cities. The most significant challenges in new cities have centered on location-specific challenges. 

For example, New York City has a strong bus and subway infrastructure, but several of the new 

communities where CEO works have limited transit options, many jobs are not on bus routes, and 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 5 5
few participants have had valid driver’s licenses. In response, CEO has in some cases worked with 

transit agencies to extend bus routes and hours. The organization is now pilot testing van- and 

ride-sharing services for individuals placed in full-time jobs so that they can pool expenses while 

saving time on their commutes.

Such local issues appear both at the grassroots and with government systems. For example, in 

California, unlike in New York, CEO has not established a dedicated procurement mechanism (language in the state budget that allows agencies to buy CEO’s work-crew services directly), making it 

more complicated for them to purchase CEO services. This is another way in which CEO has had to 

work closely with local partners, to determine the most effective means of purchasing within each 

jurisdiction.

5 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
CONCLUSION

As described in this appendix, CEO identified several criteria to optimize growth and replication 

in new geographic regions. These include: (1) a sufficient number of people returning home onto 

parole in the community, (2) a gap in the local reentry service delivery system, and (3) access to 

statewide and local criminal justice referral systems. Additionally, CEO needs to have or obtain 

the expertise needed to deal with local and state systems and be able to secure the support of a 

government champion (at the federal, state, or local level). Lastly, there needs to be anchor funding 

(at least at the start) to cover the cost of the work crews. Typically, anchor funding comes from a 

combination of sources, usually involving a local, city, or state agency. Over time, the agencies that 

contract for CEO’s work crews are expected to cover the full cost of running the work crews in their 

location. CEO must also have a sufficient organizational structure to replicate the program in other 

geographic areas. This includes: a capacity for administrative oversight, an understanding of the 

essential program elements, and the capability for initial and ongoing staff training and monitoring 

to ensure their fidelity to and understanding of the model. Even so, local complications are bound to 

arise. CEO has found it essential to keep an eye on benchmarks and to be ready to step in the event 

replication programs face challenges. 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 5 7

APP

B

ENDIX 

Supplementary Exhibits for Chapter 2

APPENDIX FIGURE B.1 CEO Replication Rating Matrix

Goal: 

The goal of this matrix is to rate the CEO replication program based on their replication and fidelity to the core CEO 

program model. Provide examples or justifications for rating in concise bullets. Base your decisions on information you 

collected during your site visit (e.g., interviews with staff). If applicable, you should also include examples of other practices 

that the replication programs may be implementing differently from CEO’s core program model. Rate each component to 

the best of your ability. Each component will be equally rated.

Rating: “Compared to core CEO program model”

H: High Fidelity: Program implements component fully compared to core CEO model; component is strongly present.

M: Medium Fidelity: Program implements component partially compared to core CEO model.

L: Low Fidelity: Program does not implement the component; feature non-existent; component has problematic

implementation.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

COMPONENT RATING

Compared 

to core CEO 

model

(High, 

Medium, 

Low)

CORE CEO MODEL CURRENT 

PRACTICES

JUSTIFICATION OF RATING AND 

OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

 Include justification of rating

 If applicable, include other 

practices that replication 

program may be implementing 

similarly or differently from core 

CEO model

Enrollment

1 Serving 

intended target 

population

Individuals released from prison 

18 and older

Must have referral from parole

Ready and able to work

Unlikely to find permanent 

employment without help

Exclude sex offenders and arson 

(ever)

2 Size of target 

population

Number served annually compared 

to target goal

Recruitment and 

Alternative 

rating:

1=Insufficient, 

substantial 

expansion 

required

2=Insufficient, 

some expansion 

required

3=Sufficient

4=More than 

sufficient

(continued)

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 6 1
APPENDIX FIGURE B.1 (continued)

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

COMPONENT RATING

Compared 

to core CEO 

model

(High, 

Medium, 

Low)

CORE CEO MODEL CURRENT 

PRACTICES

JUSTIFICATION OF RATING AND 

OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

 Include justification of rating

 If applicable, include other 

practices that replication 

program may be implementing 

similarly or differently from core 

CEO model

Recruitment and Enrollment

3 Formal 

collaboration 

with parole 

offices

Program has a formal collaboration 

with parole for referrals and 

exchanging information about 

participants

4 Standing in the 

community

Program has strong relationship 

with key stakeholders in the 

community

Program model known and 

understood by key community 

stakeholders (e.g. task force, 

criminal justice partners)

Service Model and Program Components

5 Life Skills class Program requires 4-day Life Skills 

class before clients begin 

transitional job

Class sets expectations for 

participants while enrolled in the 

program, prepares participants to 

work on crews, helps participants 

obtain documents needed for work 

Has formal curriculum/lesson 

plans/binder

6 Assessments Implements “Job Readiness 

Assessment” 

Formal process for outlining areas 

of improvement. 

Follow-up assessment utilized to 

check for goal attainment 

7 Length of time 

to place in 

worksite

Participant is placed on a worksite 

within one week (if not 

immediately) after completing life 

skills class.

8 Work crew 

model of 

transitional 

jobs in place

Operates in work crew model with 

5-7 participants per crew 

Has sufficient number of work 

crews to serve work demand

Participants are paid minimum 

wage for a maximum of 7 hours 

each day

Participants are allowed to work 3-

4 days per week 

Participants are paid at the end of 

each day, in the form of a check

(continued)

6 2 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX FIGURE B.1 (continued)

COMPONENT RATING

Compared 

to core CEO 

model

(High, 

Medium, 

Low)

CORE CEO MODEL CURRENT 

PRACTICES

JUSTIFICATION OF RATING AND 

OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

 Include justification of rating

 If applicable, include other 

practices that replication 

program may be implementing 

similarly or differently from core 

CEO model

Service Model and Program Components

9 Worksite 

supervisor 

credentials

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Worksite supervisor is sensitive to 

the needs of specific population 

(varies)

Designated worksite supervisor 

supervises work crews

10 TJ provides 

opportunity 

for learning 

basic work 

skills 

Expectations that worksite 

supervisor plays a role in teaching 

basic work skills, providing on-site 

job coaching.

Communication with office-based 

staff is minimal and through 

Passport

Passport to Success is used 

11 Length of time 

working in the 

transitional job

Up to 75 days

12 Office-based 

job coaching 

(Life Skills 

Educator)

Staff are sensitive to the needs of 

the population/credentials in some 

cases (varies)

Staff coordinate with parole 

officers, other community 

organizations, as needed

Help participant become “job 

ready”

Help teach workplace behavior, 

ethics, communication

Helps JD identify job openings, 

employer relationships

Make referrals to substance abuse 

treatment; anger management – 

minimal? 

Prepares client for unsubsidized 

employment

13 Job 

development

Staff are sensitive to the needs of 

the population/credentials in some 

cases (varies)

Staff establish relationships with 

potential employers in industries 

willing to hire 

Staff communicate openly with 

other staff as needed about specific 

cases

(continued)

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 6 3
APPENDIX FIGURE B.1 (continued)

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

COMPONENT RATING CORE CEO MODEL CURRENT JUSTIFICATION OF RATING AND 

Compared 

to core CEO 

PRACTICES OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

 Include justification of rating

model

(High, 

Medium, 

Low)

 If applicable, include other 

practices that replication 

program may be implementing 

similarly or differently from core 

CEO model

13 Job Staff accountable for making 

development appropriate matches to ensure 

long term success for both 

participant and employer 

Staff make individualized referrals 

(e.g. don’t just have a job club and 

pass out job openings they have 

heard about)

Contact employers in advance to set 

appointments, vet positions, etc. 

Follows up with employers and 

participants after interviews

Transitional job allows flexibility to 

stnenopmoCam rgor Pdnl aedoMe civerS

encourage job interviews as needed

14 Retention Dedicated retention staff for elig. 

services clients

Retention services provided for at 

least 6 months, preferably 12

Rapid Rewards retention incentives 

offered

Mechanisms for ensuring that 

participants aware of incentives 

and milestones, process. 

15 Fatherhood 

program

Offers Fatherhood program 

Offers parenting classes

Offers child support advocacy

Partnerships with child support 

enforcement agency

16 Training 

opportunities

Identified/aware of opportunities 

or linkages to training for specific 

occupations

Educational/vocational training 

partnerships, identification, 

awareness by staff 

17 Support 

services

Emergency clothing, food, referrals

Transportation supports

Referrals for substance abuse, 

housing, anger management in 

some cases, primarily through 

parole 

(continued)

6 4 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX FIGURE B.1 (continued)

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

COMPONENT RATING CORE CEO MODEL CURRENT JUSTIFICATION OF RATING AND 

Compared 

to core CEO 

PRACTICES OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

 Include justification of rating

model

(High, 

Medium, 

Low)

 If applicable, include other 

practices that replication 

program may be implementing 

similarly or differently from core 

CEO model

18 Structure Commonly understood procedures 

for policy and practice (among staff 

and management)

Commonly understood goals of 

the program (among staff and 

management) 

Agreement upon key outcomes of 

program

Staff have common understanding 

of roles/jobs

19 Communication 

among staff

Operate in team structure

Open communication across staff 

about participants 

Frequent team meetings 

encourage staff collaboration and 

communication 

Management

Implement Passport to Success

20 Adequate 

staffing

Staff positions are filled

Staff have varied experience with 

population and appropriate to roles

Turnover in line staff average

21 Organizational 

resources

Adequate equipment, office space

Job search equipment/resource 

room available for participants

22 MIS MIS/Salesforce is used to track key 

(management 

information 

system)

information about participants 

upon program entry e.g. intake 

assessments and participant 

profiles

MIS is systematically used to track 

program participation

MIS is systematically used in 

decision making, assess service 

receipt, keep track of milestones, 

etc.

23 Response to 

problems 

Management is aware of problems 

and is responsive

Actions taken when issues arise 

Management aware of staffing 

changes/needs.

(continued)

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 6 5
APPENDIX FIGURE B.1 (continued)

COMPONENT RATING CORE CEO MODEL CURRENT JUSTIFICATION OF RATING AND 

Compared PRACTICES OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

to core CEO  Include justification of rating

model  If applicable, include other 

(High, practices that replication 

Medium, program may be implementing 

Low) similarly or differently from core 

CEO model

e t

24 Coordination • Collaboration and communication 

Managem n

across across CEO locations

locations

OVERALL RESEARCHER’S ASSESSMENTS (NARRATIVE) DESCRIBE IN THE SPACE BELOW

What do you believe are the most effective 

components/strengths of this program?

What do you believe are the least effective 

components/weaknesses of this program?

6 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX TABLE B.1 Participant and Staff Questionnaire Response Rates

All Cities New York City Albany Buffalo Rochester San Diego 

Sample Response Sample Response Sample Response Sample Response Sample Response Sample Res

Size Rate (%) Size Rate (%) Size Rate (%) Size Rate (%) Size Rate (%) Size Ra

Participant

questionnaires 193 44.1 46 18.0 9 69.2 48 77.4 25 73.5 30 Staff questionnaires 90 84.9 59 88.1 5 71.4 7 100.0 5 71.4 7 

Participant and Staff Questionnaire Response Rates

Appendix Table B.2

NOTE: Response rates for participants are estimates based on the total number of individuals recorded in CEO's management information systetransitional job during the week of or the week prior to the visit.

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands| 6 7
APPENDIX TABLE B.2 Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants: 

Each Replication Program Compared with New York City

Characteristic

New York

City Albany Buffalo Rochester

San 

Diego Tulsa

Age (%)

18-25 years

26-30 years

31-40 years

41 years or older

Average age (years)

Race/ethnicity (%)

Black/African American

White

Other

Male (%)

High school or

high school equivalency diploma (%)

Days between release and enrollment (%)

90 or fewer

91-120

121-180

181-365

More than 365

Average days between release and enrollment

Supervision type (%)

Parole

Probation

26.1

19.7

25.3

28.9

34.1

72.1

6.5

21.4

94.3

65.3

53.5

5.7

8.5

13.2

19.1

226

100.0

0.0

35.1

18.1

24.6

22.2

32.1

81.4

15.7

3.0

93.8

64.1

51.9

11.0

14.0

10.7

12.5

166

100.0

0.0

 ***

***

 ***

 ***

***

46.2

14.8

20.2

18.8

30.4

77.4

13.2

9.4

93.6

63.2

42.9

13.7

11.8

14.0

17.7

227

85.2

14.8

 ***

***

 ***

 ***

***

53.1

15.4

15.4

16.1

29.0

90.3

8.7

1.0

95.2

51.7

45.5

9.5

9.1

16.0

20.0

255

100.0

0.0

 ***

***

 ***

***

 **

 ***

55.5

17.2

13.5

13.9

29.0 ***

 ***

50.6

45.4

4.0

89.8 ***

55.8 ***

 ***

23.5

11.2

12.3

30.6

22.4

248

***

63.9

36.1

 ***

44.1

18.8

23.5

13.7

29.6 ***

 ***

50.0

42.8

7.2

82.2 ***

59.8 **

 ***

69.1

3.6

6.7

12.4

8.3

117 ***

***

83.5

16.5

Sample size 2,560 342 372 292 274 388

Each Replication Program Compared with New York City

Appendix Table B.3

Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants: 

SOURCE: MDRC calculations using data from CEO's management information system. 

NOTES: The samples from all programs include people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and September 2013. In 

order to assess differences in characteristics between the New York City program and the replication programs, chi-square 

tests were used for categorical variables and two-tailed t-tests were used for continuous variables. Statistical significance 

levels are indicated as follows: *** = 1 percent; ** = 5 percent; * = 10 percent.

6 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX TABLE B.3 Selected Characteristics of CEO 

Participants: All Replication Programs Compared

with New York City

Characteristic

New York

City

Replication

Programs

Age (%)

18-25 years

26-30 years

31-40 years

41 years or older

Average age (years)

Race/ethnicity (%)

Black/African American

White

Other

Male (%)

High school or high school equivalency diploma (

Days between release and enrollment (%)

90 or fewer

91-120

121-180

181-365

More than 365

Average days between release and enrollment

Supervision type (%)

Parole

Probation

%)

26.1

19.7

25.3

28.9

34.1

72.1

6.5

21.4

94.3

65.3

53.5

5.7

8.5

13.2

19.1

226

100.0

0.0

40.3

22.8

19.9

17.0

30.1

69.6

25.2

5.3

90.6

59.4

48.4

9.5

10.6

16.0

15.5

196

86.9

13.1

 ***

***

 ***

 ***

***

 ***

***

***

Sample size 2,560 1,668

Selected Characteristics of CEO Participants:

Appendix Table B.4

All Replication Programs Compared with New York City

SOURCE: MDRC calculations using data from CEO's management information system.

NOTES: The samples from all programs include people who enrolled in CEO between 

January 2012 and September 2013. In order to assess differences in characteristics 

between the New York City program and the replication program, chi-square tests were 

used for categorical variables and two-tailed t-tests were used for continuous variables. 

Statistical significance levels are indicated as follows: *** = 1 percent; ** = 5 percent; * = 10 

percent.

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 6 9

APPENDIX 

C

Supplementary Tables for Chapter 3

APPENDIX TABLE C.1 Participation in CEO Activities:

Each Replication Program Compared with New York City

Outcome

New York

City Albany Buffalo Rochester

San

Diego 

Ever worked in a CEO transitional job (%)

Assessed for job-start readiness (%)

Determined to be job-start ready (%)

Met with a job coach (%)

Met with a job developer (%)

Among those who worked in a CEO transitional job

Days worked in a CEO transitional joba (%)

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

More than 41

Average days worked in a CEO transitional job

Average number of meetings with job coach

Average number of meetings with job developer

Total weeks of active engagement with programbPlaced in an unsubsidized jobc (%)

88.4

88.2

64.5

81.7

56.4

33.7

20.5

14.0

11.6

20.2

23.2

3.2

3.8

13.234.7

70.8

88.6

74.3

58.5

61.4

38.8

26.0

13.2

8.7

13.2

19.7

1.0

2.3

10.348.8

***

***

***

*

***

***

***

***

******

70.4

86.3

78.8

86.077.7

34.7

30.9

12.6

8.8

13.0

19.0

1.3

3.2

12.253.4

***

***

**

***

***

***

***

***

***

67.5

79.5

76.4

67.865.8

41.1

23.9

13.7

9.6

11.7

18.4

1.3

3.9

12.657.4

***

***

***

******

***

***

***

***

94.2

89.4

73.4

76.368.6

40.7

19.8

16.7

11.6

11.2

19.5

1.7

4.5

11.738.8

Participation in CEO Activities: Each Replication Program Compared with New York City

Appendix Table C.1

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands| 7 3
APPENDIX TABLE C.1 (continued)

New York 

Outcome City Albany Buffalo Rochester D

Among those who were placed in an unsubsidized job

Unsubsidized job characteristics

Average starting wage ($) 9.72 9.59 9.43 9.10 ** 

Hours per week 33.5 34.8 *** 36.0 *** 33.4 * 

Employer provided benefits (%) 17.7 23.0 24.9 ** 28.8 *** 

Ever received a Rapid Rewards paymentd (%) 75.2 93.4 *** 93.8 *** 96.0 *** 

Among those who received a Rapid Rewards Paymentd

Number of Rapid Rewards payments 2.8 5.4 *** 5.8 *** 6.2 *** 

Total amount of Rapid Rewards payments ($) 177.81 150.76 *** 186.95 *** 216.55 *** 12

Sample size 2,560 342 372 292 

Appendix Table C.1 (continued)

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from CEO's management information system.NOTES: The samples from all programs include people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and September 2013. In order to asse

characteristics between the New York City program and the replication programs, chi-square tests were used for categorical variables an

used for continuous variables. Statistical significance levels are indicated as follows: *** = 1 percent; ** = 5 percent; * = 10 percent. 

aDays worked may not be consecutive.bThis measure is calculated from the date of first enrollment to the date of first placement in an unsubsidized job, or to the last date o

transitional job. 

cThis includes unsubsidized employment placements by CEO and self-placement employment that CEO was made aware of or that thdThese measures include only people who enrolled in CEO between January 2012 and March 30, 2013 to allow for 12 months of follow

receive Rapid Rewards for up to six months following placement into an unsubsidized job.

7 4| A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX TABLE C.2 Participant Experiences, by Program

All New York

Measure (%) Programs City Albany Buffalo RoLength of employment

Less than one month 30.2 17.4 22.2 31.9 One month 16.7 8.7 33.3 17.0 Two months 22.4 15.2 33.3 29.8 Three months 12.0 19.6 0.0 10.6 

More than three months 18.8 39.1 11.1 10.6 

Tasks during a typical daya

Assemble parts 7.3 10.9 0.0 4.3 

Operate machines or equipment 20.3 13.0 0.0 21.3 

Check or inspect products or equipment 10.4 6.5 0.0 10.6 Answer or make telephone calls 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 Use a computer 5.7 2.2 11.1 6.4 

Do general office work (filing, copying, etc.) 2.6 2.2 0.0 2.1 Interact with customers 9.4 6.5 0.0 6.4 Clean or maintain work spaces 79.2 82.6 88.9 74.5 Stock or organize products 15.1 21.7 33.3 6.4 

Operate cash register 1.6 0.0 0.0 4.3 Provide food service 2.1 2.2 0.0 2.1 

Other 39.1 21.7 22.2 38.3 

Appendix Table C.2

Participant Experiences, by Program

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands| 7 5
APPENDIX TABLE C.2 (continued)

All New York

Measure (%) Programs City Albany Buffalo RoServices receiveda

Help arranging child care 4.8 7.1 0.0 10.4 

Transportation assistance 38.3 45.2 37.5 35.4 Help addressing housing problems 9.6 4.8 0.0 18.8 Anger-management classes 3.2 4.8 0.0 6.3 Alcohol or substance abuse treatment 4.3 4.8 12.5 8.3 

Counseling/parenting classes 2.7 2.4 0.0 2.1 Help with work-appropriate clothing 42.6 42.9 50.0 39.6 Computer training 17.0 9.5 12.5 16.7 

GED preparation 9.6 23.8 12.5 12.5 

Career planning/résumé writing/job interview preparation/job search help 67.6 57.1 75.0 62.5 General money-management assistance 18.6 21.4 25.0 27.1 

Help setting up a bank account 11.2 28.6 62.5 6.3 Access to benefits 13.3 26.2 12.5 20.8 

Help understanding or changing child support payments 4.3 9.5 12.5 6.3 

Legal assistance 5.3 9.5 0.0 6.3 Parole assistance 23.4 35.7 37.5 12.5 Other 8.0 4.8 12.5 12.5 

None 5.4 4.9 0.0 8.3 

Services needed but not receiveda

Help arranging child care 8.3 17.1 0.0 4.9 

Transportation assistance 17.2 25.7 16.7 7.3 Help addressing housing problems 14.8 22.9 16.7 7.3 

Appendix Table C.2 (continued)

7 6| A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX TABLE C.2 (continued)

All New York

Measure (%) Programs City Albany Buffalo Ro

Anger-management classes 5.9 8.6 0.0 2.4 

Alcohol or substance abuse treatment 5.9 8.6 0.0 2.4 Counseling/parenting classes 4.7 2.9 16.7 0.0 

Help with work-appropriate clothing 9.5 14.3 0.0 4.9 Computer training 10.1 17.1 16.7 4.9 

GED preparation 8.3 5.7 0.0 7.3 Career planning/résumé writing/job interview preparation/job search help 9.5 14.3 0.0 7.3 General money-management assistance 12.4 20.0 0.0 0.0 Help setting up a bank account 13.6 20.0 0.0 2.4 Access to benefits 9.5 14.3 33.3 2.4 

Help understanding or changing child support payments 5.9 5.7 16.7 4.9 

Legal assistance 5.9 0.0 16.7 7.3 

Parole assistance 5.9 5.7 0.0 4.9 

Other 5.9 0.0 16.7 7.3 

None 36.7 31.4 33.3 58.5 

Agree or strongly agree with the following statements:b

I am doing work that is very important to the organization/company where I work. 63.7 52.2 44.4 64.6 I understand what is expected of me on the job. 85.0 84.8 66.7 83.3 I know whom at work to ask for help when I need it. 88.6 93.5 66.7 87.5 I get the support or guidance that I need from my supervisor. 83.9 78.3 33.3 85.4 My supervisor gives me advice about how to handle situations at work. 82.4 71.7 33.3 89.6 My supervisor helps me if personal issues come up that get in the way of working. 66.3 52.2 11.1 79.2 

Appendix Table C.2 (continued)

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands| 7 7
APPENDIX TABLE C.2 (continued)

All New York

Measure (%) Programs City Albany Buffalo Ro

My relationships with coworkers are positive and supportive. 82.4 80.4 66.7 85.4 

My coworkers understand me and want me to succeed. 74.6 71.7 66.7 77.1 My responsibilities have increased since I began this job. 72.5 73.9 44.4 72.9 I have opportunities to grow and take on new responsibilities in this job. 71.5 67.4 44.4 81.3 I am satisfied in this job. 61.1 54.3 22.2 79.2 Overall, I feel better about myself since beginning this job. 78.2 71.7 22.2 79.2 The kind of work I am doing will help me get a decent-paying job later. 67.4 60.9 44.4 70.8 I am learning specific job skills that I will use in the future. 67.9 71.7 55.6 70.8 I have met people through this job who may help me find a job in the future. 69.9 63.0 55.6 79.2 I am learning how to work better with coworkers. 75.1 76.1 55.6 81.3 I am learning how to cooperate better with supervisors. 78.8 82.6 44.4 75.0 This job has helped me learn to present myself better at work. 78.8 80.4 55.6 77.1 

I am late to work less often than when I began this job.

Agree 26.5 26.1 22.2 17.4 

Disagree 18.5 21.7 11.1 23.9 

Does not apply (did not need to improve in this area) 55.0 52.2 66.7 58.7 

Without CEO, I would likely still be unemployed.b 56.5 50.0 22.2 64.6 Without CEO, I would likely be back in prison.b 22.3 21.7 0.0 20.8 

Appendix Table C.2 (continued)

7 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX TABLE C.2 (continued)

Measure (%)

All

Programs

New York

City Albany Buffalo Ro

As a result of CEO...a

I have better job skills.I am better at working with others.I feel more in control of my finances.I have a greater sense of well-being.I feel better able to handle responsibilities and challenges in 

my personal life so that they don't get in the way of my job.

My relationships with my family members are better.

I feel better prepared to find a new job.I feel better able to meet my basic needs (for example, food, clothing, shelter, 

transportation).

My self-esteem has improved.

Other

72.566.748.757.159.838.673.048.157.7

9.5

72.167.448.853.574.446.576.755.860.511.6

75.050.062.537.550.025.075.037.537.5

0.0

75.068.858.356.354.235.468.841.750.0

16.7

Sample size 193 46 9 48 

Appendix Table C.2 (continued)

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO participant questionnaire.

NOTES: GED = General Educational Development

aThese measuresshow the percentages of questionnaire respondents who agreed with each statement. Respondents were instructed to selec

to them. 

bThese measure show the percentages of participants who selected 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale where 1 = "strongly disagree" and 7 = "strongly a

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands| 7 9
APPENDIX TABLE C.3 Program Sta

ff Questionnaire Responses

Measure

All

Programs

New York

City Albany Buffalo 

Work environment

Number of staff members selecting 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale where 1 = "strongly disagree" and 7 = "strongly agree"

My organization allows me to make the kinds of professional

judgments that I should be making. 38

I have the information/tools/resources I need to do my job well. 47

I have the skills and experience I need to do my job well. 75

I understand the policies and rules of my organization. 66I can relate to my participants. 54

For the most part, I work with the clients on my caseload

independently, without consulting others. 32

In general, the staff at my organization works well together as a team. 45

I get the support or guidance I need from my supervisor. 50

I am satisfied with my current job. 46

Reports of worker satisfaction and morale among staff members

Very low 7Below average 10

Average 32

Above average 25Very high 11

20

31464337

22

252930

4

6

2414

6

2

2534

3

4211

112

0

3

3736

1

2541

231

0

Sample size 90 59 5 7 

Appendix Table C.3

Program Staff Questionnaire Responses

8 0 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
APPENDIX TABLE C.3 (continued)

Measure

All

Programs

New York

City

Albany

Buffalo

Supervision, among work-site supervisors

Number of work site supervisors selecting 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale where 1 = "strongly disagree" and 7 = "strongly agree"

Part of my role is to help participants learn "soft skills."a 25 17Part of my role is to help participants learn "hard skills."a 12 9

Part of my role is to help participants address personal problems that

 get in the way of working. 13 8

I use other staff members as a resource to help resolve issues for participants. 12 7

Participants are usually ready to work when they start their subsidized jobs. 14 9

I would be likely to provide a good reference for a participant if asked. 17 12

Frequency of communication with participants about work

Several times each day 15 9

Once a day 8 8A few times a week 7 6Once a week 1 0Less than once a week 0 0Hardly ever 0 0

Frequency of communication with other staff members about things that come up at the work site

More than once a week 14 9

Once a week 5 4Several times a month 3 2Once a month or less frequently 7 6Never or hardly ever 5 5

Work-site supervisor was asked to provide a reference for a participant 23 19

Number of references requested (mean) 6.4 5.5

1

0

0

1

11

10000010000

1

6.0

2

2

2

2

01

20000020000

1

4.0

Sample size 34 26 1 2 

Appendix Table C.3 (continued)

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands| 8 1
APPENDIX TABLE C.3 (continued)

Measure

All

Programs

New York

City Albany Buffalo 

Unsubsidized job placement, among job developers

Number of job developers saying they conducted tasks "all of the time" or "often"

Help participants decide what kinds of jobs to look for

Hold group job search meetings with participantsHelp participants prepare a résumé or fill out a job application

Practice job interviewing skills

Help participants prepare for an interview with a particular employer

Schedule interviews for participants

Discuss specific participants with a potential employer

Make contact with employers to inquire about job openings

Make contact with employers to inquire about job openings for a specific participant

Discuss the participant's transitional job experience with employers

Follow up with an employer after a participant's interview

Follow up with an employer after a participant's hire

Number of participants job developer is currently helping 

to find an unsubsidized job (mean)Number of participants job developer referred to specific job openingsin the past week (mean)

14

1

12

13

14

13

14

14

14

12

14

13

2110

41

3

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4315

10

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

53

20

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

17

6

Sample size 15 4 1 2 

Appendix Table C.3 (continued)

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO staff and supervisor questionnaire.

a"Soft skills" refer to the general habits and competencies that make for an effective employee, such as such as how to show up to work on tim

cooperatively with others. "Hard skills," in contrast, refer to more tangible skill sets that require technical knowledge. 

8 2| A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
AP

D

PENDIX 

Supplementary Tables for Chapter 4

APPENDIX TABLE D.1 Participant Questionnaire Responses

Statement

Agree/Strongly

Agree (%)

I receive support and guidance at work.

I know whom at work to ask for help when I need it.

I get the support or guidance that I need from my supervisor.

I understand what is expected of me on the job.

My supervisor gives me advice about how to handle situations at work.

My relationships with current coworkers are positive.

My relationships with coworkers are positive and supportive.

My coworkers understand me and want me to succeed.

CEO provides prepration for future employment.

I am learning how to cooperate better with supervisors.

This job has helped me learn to present myself better at work.

I am learning how to work better with coworkers.

I have met people through this job who may help me find a job in the future.

The kind of work I am doing will help me get a decent-paying job later.

I am learning specific job skills that I will use in the future.

86.7

89.7

86.4

85.9

84.8

79.8

83.2

75.0

74.7

80.4

79.9

76.1

70.7

68.5

68.5

Sample size 184

Appendix Table D.1

Participant Questionnaire Responses

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from the CEO participant questionnaire.

NOTES: A promax, four-factor structure was used to identify subscales. Only factor items with loadings 

greater than 0.30 are shown, based on factor analysis. Factor loadings indicate items that were used to 

create the respective scales. Items were included with the factors on which they loaded most highly. 

 The table shows the percentage of participants who selected 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale where 1 = "strongly 

disagree" and 7 = "strongly agree."

 Calculations for this table do not include participant responses from CEO Albany.

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 8 5
APPENDIX TABLE D.2 Program Sta

ff Background Characteristics

Measure (%)

All

Programs

New York

City Albany Buffalo Roche

Age categories

18-2425-3435-4445-5960 or older

Gender

MaleFemale

Previously incarceratedPreviously received public assistanceLength of employment at current organization

Less than 1 year1 year to less than 3 years3 years to less than 5 years5 years to less than 10 years10 years or more

Educational background

High school diploma or equivalency, associate's degree, or some collegeAssociate's degree or some collegeBachelor's degreeSome graduate work, MSW, or other graduate degree

2.8

35.228.221.112.767.132.918.827.417.432.619.816.314.020.537.425.316.9

4.9

24.426.822.022.077.822.216.717.014.625.514.625.520.032.734.619.213.5

0.0

40.040.020.0

0.0

20.080.020.060.040.040.0

0.00.0

20.0

0.0

40.040.020.0

0.0

57.114.328.6

0.0

57.142.942.942.928.657.1

14.3

0.00.00.0

42.928.628.6

24482642

8

244

Sample size 90 59 5 7 

Appendix Table D.2

Program Staff Background Characteristics

SOURCE: MDRC calculations from CEO staff and supervisor questionnaire.

NOTE: MSW = Master of Social Work degree.

8 6 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
REFERENCES

Bloom, Dan. 2010. Transitional Jobs: Background, Program Models, and Evaluation Evidence. New York: 

MDRC.

Blumstein, Alfred, and Kiminori Nakamura. 2010. “‘Redemption’ in an Era of Widespread Criminal 

Background Checks.” NIJ Journal 256: 10-17.

Carson, E. Ann. 2015. “Prisoners in 2014.” Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice 

Statistics.

Corporation for National and Community Service. “About the Social Innovation Fund.” Website: www.

nationalservice.gov/programs/social-innovation-fund/about-sif. Accessed on September 1, 2015.

Duran, Le’Ann, Martha Plotkin, Phoebe Potter, and Henry Rosen. 2013. Integrated Reentry and Employment 

Strategies: Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Job Readiness. New York: Council of State Governments 

Justice Center.

Durose, Matthew R., Alexia D. Cooper, and Howard N. Snyder. 2014. Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 

30 States in 2005: Patterns from 2005 to 2010. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of 

Justice Statistics.

Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. 2015. “EMCF and the Social Innovation Fund.” Website: www.emcf.org/

capital-aggregation/emcf-the-social-innovation-fund.

Heartland Alliance. 2014. “The National Transitional Jobs Network.” Website: www.heartlandalliance.org/

nationalinitiatives/our-initiatives/national-transitional-jobs.html.

Holzer, Harry J., Steven Raphael, and Michael A. Stoll. 2003. “Employment Barriers Facing Ex-Offenders.” 

Reentry Roundtable Discussion Paper. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

Hubbard, Dana Jones, and Edward J. Latessa. 2004. Evaluation of Cognitive-Behavioral Programs for 

Offenders: A Look at Outcome and Responsivity in Five Treatment Programs. Final Report. Cincinnati, OH: 

University of Cincinnati Division of Criminal Justice, Center for Criminal Justice Research.

James, Nathan. 2014. The Federal Prison Population Buildup: Policy Changes, Issues, and Options. 

Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.

Latessa, Edward J. 2012. “Why Work Is Important, and How to Improve the Effectiveness of Correctional 

Reentry Programs that Target Employment.” Criminology and Public Policy 11, 1: 87-91.

Milkman, Harvey, and Kenneth Wanberg. 2007. Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment: A Review and Discussion 

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 8 7
for Corrections Professionals. Washington, DC: National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of 

Justice.

Pager, Devah. 2003. “The Mark of a Criminal Record.” American Journal of Sociology 108, 5: 937-975.

Redcross, Cindy, Dan Bloom, Erin Jacobs, Alford A. Young, Jr., Kristin Seefeldt, Michelle Manno, Sara 

Muller-Ravett, Jennifer Yahner, and Janine Zweig. 2010. Work After Prison: One-Year Findings from the 

Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration. New York: MDRC.

Redcross, Cindy, Megan Millenky, Timothy Rudd, and Valerie Levshin. 2012. More Than a Job: Final Results 

from the Evaluation of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Transitional Jobs Program. New 

York: MDRC.

Uggen, Christopher. 2000. “Work as a Turning Point in the Life Course of Criminals: A Duration Model of 

Age, Employment, and Recidivism.” American Sociological Review 67: 529-546.

Van Voorhis, Patricia, and David Lester. 1997. “Cognitive Therapies.” Pages 183-210 in Patricia Van Voorhis 

and Emily J. Salisbury (eds.), Correctional Counseling and Rehabilitation. Waltham, MA: Anderson 

Publishing.

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Website: www.offenderchange.org/terminology. Accessed on November 6, 2015.

Wilson, David B., Catherine A. Gallagher, and Doris MacKenzie. 2000. “A Meta-Analysis of CorrectionsBased Education, Vocation, and Work Programs for Adult Offenders.” Journal of Research in Crime and 

Delinquency 37, 4: 347-368.

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Practice 5, 3: 363-375.

Zweig, Janine, Jennifer Yahner, and Cindy Redcross. 2011. “For Whom Does a Transitional Jobs Program 

Work? Examining the Recidivism Effects of the Center for Employment Opportunities Program on 

Former Prisoners at High, Medium, and Low Risk of Reoffending.” Criminology and Public Policy, 10, 4: 

945-972.

REFERENCES (CONTINUED)

8 8 | A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands
EARLIER MDRC PUBLICATIONS 

ON THE CENTER FOR 

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

More Than a Job

Final Results from the Evaluation of the 

Center for Employment Opportunities 

(CEO) Transitional Jobs Program

2012. Cindy Redcross, Megan Millenky, Timothy Rudd, 

and Valerie Levshin

Recidivism Effects of the Center for 

Employment Opportunities (CEO) 

Program Vary by Former Prisoners’ Risk 

of Reoffending 

2010. Janine Zweig, Jennifer Yahner, and Cindy 

Redcross

Transitional Jobs for Ex-Prisoners

Implementation, Two-Year Impacts, 

and Costs of the Center for Employment 

Opportunities (CEO) Prisoner Reentry 

Program

2009. Cindy Redcross, Dan Bloom, Gilda Azurdia, 

Janine Zweig, and Nancy Pindus

Early Impacts from an Evaluation of the 

Center for Employment Opportunities 

(CEO) Prisoner Reentry Program

2007. Dan Bloom, Cindy Redcross, Janine Zweig, and 

Gilda Azurdia

The Power of Work

The Center for Employment Opportunities 

Comprehensive Prisoner Reentry Program

2006.

NOTE: A complete publications list is available from MDRC and on its website (www.mdrc.org), from 

which copies of reports can also be downloaded.

A Successful Prisoner Reentry Program Expands | 8 9
ABOUT MDRC

MDRC IS A NONPROFIT, NONPARTISAN SOCIAL AND EDUCATION POLICY RESEARCH ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO

learning what works to improve the well-being of low-income 

people. Through its research and the active communication of 

its findings, MDRC seeks to enhance the effectiveness of social 

and education policies and programs.

Founded in 1974 and located in New York City and Oakland, 

California, MDRC is best known for mounting rigorous, largescale, real-world tests of new and existing policies and programs. Its projects are a mix of demonstrations (field tests of 

promising new program approaches) and evaluations of ongoing government and community initiatives. MDRC’s staff

bring an unusual combination of research and organizational 

experience to their work, providing expertise on the latest 

in qualitative and quantitative methods and on program design, development, implementation, and management. MDRC 

seeks to learn not just whether a program is effective but also 

how and why the program’s effects occur. In addition, it tries to 

place each project’s findings in the broader context of related 

research — in order to build knowledge about what works 

across the social and education policy fields. MDRC’s findings, 

lessons, and best practices are proactively shared with a broad 

audience in the policy and practitioner community as well as 

with the general public and the media.

Over the years, MDRC has brought its unique approach to an 

ever-growing range of policy areas and target populations. 

Once known primarily for evaluations of state welfare-to-work 

programs, today MDRC is also studying public school reforms, 

employment programs for ex-offenders and people with disabilities, and programs to help low-income students succeed 

in college. MDRC’s projects are organized into five areas:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Promoting Family Well-Being and Children’s Development

Improving Public Education

Raising Academic Achievement and Persistence in College

Supporting Low-Wage Workers and Communities

Overcoming Barriers to Employment

Working in almost every state, all of the nation’s largest cities, and Canada and the United Kingdom, MDRC conducts its 

projects in partnership with national, state, and local governments, public school systems, community organizations, and 

numerous private philanthropies.

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