The Reentry Projects Grants Evaluation

Project Highlights

Knowledge development phase.

The evaluation began with a knowledge development phase, in which the study team reviewed relevant research and explored impact study designs, as well as grantees suitability for involvement in various impact study designs.

Implementation Study.

The evaluation also included an implementation study, through which the study team conducted multiple rounds of grantee surveys, an analysis of Workforce Integrated Performance System (WIPS) data, and an analysis of virtual site visits with 28 grantee program locations, or sites.

Deliverables created through the implementation study include:

Impact study.

While the study team initially pursued a randomized control trial impact study, that design proved infeasible, and the team pivoted to a quasi-experimental impact study using a matched comparison study design, where the labor market and criminal justice outcomes of RP program participants from two cohorts and across six states (Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania) were compared to those of Wagner-Peyser program participants with similar backgrounds.

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The intent of this Reentry Project initiative is to protect community safety through the successful reintegration of offenders."

US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration

For about two decades, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has invested in reentry services for justice-involved individuals through its Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) office.

Between 2016 and 2019, DOL awarded almost $300 million in four rounds of young adult (ages 18 to 24) and older adult (ages 25 and over) Reentry Project (RP) grants, which involved employment-focused programming designed to improve participants’ labor market and criminal justice outcomes.

Our team’s comprehensive approach included an impact study, a study of grant implementation, and an analysis of program results.