The Blog

Photo of Bernie Warner, Secretary, Department of Corrections Bernie Warner, Secretary, Department of Corrections

08/29/11

The nation’s high unemployment rate has impacted nearly every household in our state, so it’s difficult to be concerned about offenders who struggle to find jobs as well. But it is an issue that the Department of Corrections pays attention to because it has a potential impact on public safety.

Offenders who have jobs are better able to support themselves, less likely to commit new crimes and less likely to end up back in the prison system. One of the ways we help offenders support themselves is a program in which offenders spend the final few months of their prison sentence in one of 15 work release facilities located across the state.

About 4 percent of the offenders in Washington prisons go to work each day and report back to their work release facility immediately afterward. It’s been a successful program for decades, though since the recession began offenders have had a much harder time finding jobs, just like everyone else. A few years ago more than 90 percent of offenders in work release found jobs within the first two weeks of arriving at the facility. Today, that figure is down to about 60 percent at some work release facilities. As a result, more offenders complete their prison sentences without jobs or their own money to pay for housing, which makes them more likely to be homeless and more likely to commit new crimes.

So, what is the Department of Corrections doing about this issue? We are taking a closer look at which offenders qualify for work release. With fewer than 700 beds for more than 17,000 offenders it’s critical that we have the most qualified offenders in work release.

Community corrections officers continue to develop relationships with local employers to make them aware of the benefits of hiring offenders who are in work release, including regular drug and alcohol testing and unannounced worksite visits. Offenders also have an added incentive to report to work on time and act professionally because if they don’t they will be sent back to prison.

We’re also providing qualified offenders with opportunities to learn job skills while they’re in prison so they’re more likely to be successful once they’re in work release. Correctional Industries, a division of DOC, provides thousands of offenders with jobs that are transferable to the private sector. It also teaches offenders how to act professionally in a work environment so they’re able to stay employed – and out of trouble.

Helping offenders find employment is difficult even when the economy is strong, so the high unemployment rate makes our job more difficult. Still, we’ll continue to do all we can to help offenders support themselves. We don’t do it just to help the offender – we do it because it makes the public safer.