DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02021.v1
title: Work Release in the State of Washington, 1990-1993
title: Version 1

description: Work release programs allow selected prisoners nearing the
 end of their terms to work in the community, returning to correctional
 facilities or community residential facilities in nonworking
 hours. This project was designed as both a randomized and
 quasi-experimental field study to assess the effectiveness of work
 release in the Seattle area. It evaluated the impact of work release
 sentencing on recidivism and on corrections costs by comparing a
 sample of inmates who participated in work release with a comparable
 sample of inmates who completed their sentences in prison. The study
 was designed to answer the following questions: (1) What are the
 background and offense characteristics of offenders assigned to work
 release in the Seattle area? (2) What types of services are received
 by offenders in work release? and (3) How does the community
 experience of work release participants compare to that of similar
 offenders discharged directly into the Seattle community without
 having gone through work release? For each offender, detailed
 information was collected on measures relating to work release
 participation and recidivism outcomes. Information was gathered from
 Department of Corrections institutional files, work release program
 records, computerized payment information for legal and financial
 obligations, and statewide criminal history records. For each
 offender, background and six- and twelve-month reviews were completed.
 Part 1, Background Data, supplies variables that cover inmate
 demographics, employment history, drug use, current offense, prior
 criminal history, and risk/needs items. Part 2, Drug Testing Data,
 lists the types of drugs tested for, types of drugs for which there
 were positive results, and sanctions for drug use. Part 3, Offender
 Status Data, provides information on inmates' supervision status and
 the types of programs they participated in. Part 4, Prison Data,
 includes the number of days spent at different institutions and
 prerelease centers, work assignment, and prison infractions. Part 5,
 Work Release Data, contains information on the number of days spent at
 different work release facilities and any time spent in jail or on
 escape status while in work release. Data in this file also cover
 contacts and services received during work release, including personal
 and phone contacts between the work release participant and community
 corrections officer at the job and other sites, monitoring checks
 (employment verification, criminal records checks), sessions in
 outpatient counseling (drug, alcohol, family, other), employment
 (number of attempted and completed job interviews, primary job
 classification, length of employment, wages, and reason left), drug
 testing (date and type of test, type of positives, sanction imposed),
 infractions during work release and their sanctions, and arrests and
 their sanctions. Part 6, Community Placement Data, provides variables
 on the number of days each month that the offender was on the street,
 in work release, in pretrial detention, or in other custody, while
 Part 7, Post-Release Data, focuses on the number of days each month
 that the offender was on the street, in pretrial detention, or in
 prison or jail after being released from the work release
 program. Variables in Part 8, Infractions Data, pertain to the number
 and types of infractions and associated sanctions. Part 9, Recidivism
 Data, provides information on each offense after discharge from the
 program, including the date of the offense, nature of arrest,
disposition, and sentence.
description: Work release programs allow selected prisoners
 nearing the end of their terms to work in the community, returning to
 correctional facilities or community residential facilities in
 nonworking hours. Such programs are designed to prepare inmates to
 return to the community in a relatively controlled environment, while
 learning how to work productively. The state of Washington has been
 committed to work release programs since 1967. The Washington program
 permits selected inmates to serve the final four to six months of
 their sentences in privately-run community residential facilities,
 where they are required to be employed, submit to drug testing, and
 abide by curfews and numerous program rules. The purpose of this study
 was to assess the effectiveness of work release in the Seattle area
 and to measure the impact that participating in work release had on
 offenders' subsequent criminality, general social adjustment, and
 prison sentence reductions. The study was designed to answer the
 following questions: (1) What are the background and offense
 characteristics of offenders assigned to work release in the Seattle
 area? (2) What types of services are received by offenders in work
 release? and (3) How does the community experience of work release
 participants compare to that of similar offenders discharged directly
into the Seattle community without having gone through work release?
description: This project was designed as both a randomized and
 quasi-experimental field study to assess the effectiveness of work
 release in the Seattle area. It evaluated the impact of work release
 on recidivism and on corrections costs by comparing a sample of
 inmates who participated in work release with a comparable sample of
 inmates who completed their sentences in prison. Subjects were
 initially randomly assigned to control or experimental
 groups. However, a sharp decrease in the number of offenders applying
 for work release at the time the study was conducted meant that
 additional cases had to be assigned to each group in order to create
 sample sizes large enough to detect significant differences. For each
 offender, detailed information was collected on measures relating to
 work release participation and recidivism outcomes. Information was
 gathered from Department of Corrections institutional files, work
 release program records, computerized payment information for legal
 and financial obligations, and statewide criminal history records. For
 each offender, background and six- and twelve-month reviews were
 completed. At six months after study assignment, and again at twelve
 months after assignment, a series of forms based on an offender's
 status were filled out by parole staff for each study
 participant. Separate forms gathered information about prison, work
 release, community placement, post-discharge activities, and
 infractions. Recidivism information was obtained for each offender
from state-level criminal history rap sheets.
description: Part 1, Background Data, supplies variables that
 cover inmate demographics, employment history, drug use, current
 offense, prior criminal history, and risk/needs items. Part 2, Drug
 Testing Data, lists the types of drugs tested for, types of drugs for
 which there were positive results, and sanctions for drug use. Part 3,
 Offender Status Data, provides information on inmates' supervision
 status and the types of programs they participated in. Part 4, Prison
 Data, includes the number of days spent at different institutions and
 prerelease centers, work assignment, and prison infractions. Part 5,
 Work Release Data, contains information on the number of days spent at
 different work release facilities and any time spent in jail or on
 escape status while in work release. Data in this file also cover
 contacts and services received during work release, including personal
 and phone contacts between the work release participant and community
 corrections officer at the job and other sites, monitoring checks
 (employment verification, criminal records checks), sessions in
 outpatient counseling (drug, alcohol, family, other), employment
 (number of attempted and completed job interviews, primary job
 classification, length of employment, wages, and reason left), drug
 testing (date and type of test, type of positives, sanction imposed),
 infractions during work release and their sanctions, and arrests and
 their sanctions. Part 6, Community Placement Data, provides variables
 on the number of days each month that the offender was on the street,
 in work release, in pretrial detention, or in other custody, while
 Part 7, Post-Release Data, focuses on the number of days each month
 that the offender was on the street, in pretrial detention, or in
 prison or jail after being released from the work release
 program. Variables in Part 8, Infractions Data, pertain to the number
 and types of infractions and associated sanctions. Part 9, Recidivism
 Data, provides information on each offense after discharge from the
 program, including the date of the offense, nature of arrest,
disposition, and sentence.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Random sampling.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Background Data
DS2: Drug Testing Data
DS3: Offender Status Data
DS4: Prison Data
DS5: Work Release Data
DS6: Community Placement Data
DS7: Post-Release Data
DS8: Infractions Data
DS9: Recidivism Data
description: Offenders in the state of Washington eligible for work
release between 1990 and 1993.
description: (1) There are multiple records per individual in Part
 2, representing drug tests, and in Parts 8-9, representing incidents.
 (2) The user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments are
 provided as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format
 was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using
 PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on
 how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the
ICPSR Website on the Internet.