| ||||||
Mentoring Ex-Prisoners in the Ready4Work Reentry Initiative |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
With 650,000 prisoners being released from incarceration each year, the question of how to support their return---and promote a successful transition into society---is paramount. Early findings from the Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative suggest that, as part of a comprehensive reentry program, mentoring is indeed a valuable strategy. Men and women returning from incarceration are concentrated in some of the nation's poorest neighborhoods, where there are few supports and services to help them reintegrate effectively, and where their presence may threaten already fragile households and communities. Ready4Work programs were established in 17 sites around the country to provide a comprehensive set of services to returning prisoners. For years, P/PV has studied and evaluated a wide variety of mentoring programs for youth. Because little research about mentoring adults exists, P/PV allowed the 11 adult Ready4Work sites4 to decide whether to emphasize group sessions, one-to-one mentoring or a combination, letting each lead agency pick the model that provided the best fit for its program structure. In examining the relationship between mentoring and other outcomes in Ready4Work, an important point must be made: Mentoring was just one component of the Ready4Work model; virtually all of the participants received case management and employment services.6 Thus our research doesn't explore the value of mentoring by itself, but rather its potential as part of a larger program. P/PV is a national nonprofit organization that seeks is to improve the effectiveness of social policies, programs and community initiatives.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
