Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development

People leaving federal prison face significant challenges during reentry, including barriers to reentering the workforce. To address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), in partnership with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Prisons (BOP), awarded PROWD grants to eighteen states to provide employment-focused reentry programming to people preparing to exit federal prisons, transition to residential reentry centers, and return to their communities. 

DOL contracted with Mathematica, Inc. and its partners to conduct the PROWD Grants Evaluation to build evidence about employment-focused reentry programs and how to best support the employment of this population. The evaluation is being informed by experts with lived experience, PROWD grantees, and researchers with expertise in the field. This DOL-funded study builds on evaluations of prior DOL reentry efforts, including the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release grants and Pathway Home grants, which focused on incarceration at the local and state levels. 

This project includes foundational fact-finding activities including a synthesis of recent research, an implementation study of the PROWD grants, an impact and cost-benefit evaluability assessment and study, and a longitudinal survey of individuals exiting Federal prisons. It also includes two sub-studies on the outcomes of participants of registered apprenticeship programs in federal prisons and a study of the uptake of Pell Grants by individuals in federal facilities. Through these activities, the PROWD evaluation will help build the evidence base about what works for employment-focused reentry programs serving people exiting federal prisons.