For example, the Service's treatment of sex offenders varies considerably from region to region. In short, a disproportionate amount of resources is also being spent on a few offenders. Given these variations in program length and cost, the Service needs to focus on the most cost-effective programs. Another intervention program weakness is that the Service has not established a continuum of programs that support offenders properly in their transition from the institution to the community. It is critical that offenders continue to have access to appropriate treatment or assistance after they return to the community, because that is when they are most forcefully confronted with the factors that led to their original criminal conviction.
Similar problems are present for many other types of programming.
Employability programs Research indicates that offenders who find good jobs after release are less likely to be reincarcerated. The Service, therefore, offers education, vocational and employment programming to help offenders acquire these skills. However, there are significant cost variations across these three program areas. Both education and vocational training are much less expensive per inmate than institutional employment. Further, both education and vocational training appear to be given to those who need it, while roughly half of the offenders who are placed in some form of institutional employment do not necessarily need this type of training.