From incarceration to the labour market: Innovative approaches to integrating former detainees into the workforce José Santos June 17, 2024

From incarceration to the labour market: Innovative approaches to integrating former detainees into the workforce

Building on a previous project that worked on the resocialisation of young people through sports, a transnational initiative is helping former detainees by creating a process chain to facilitate their transition into the labour market, a database of organisations offering internships and jobs, and providing training for prison staff to document inmates' skills.

Enhancing Employment Opportunities for Former Detainees
 

The transition from incarceration to employment presents significant challenges, primarily due to a lack of education and training that hinders former detainees’ competitiveness in today’s employment landscape. Furthermore, their limited connections within the labour market exacerbate these difficulties.

To mitigate these issues, the original STEPS project focused on facilitating the re-socialisation and inclusion of young people involved in the justice system, as well as those in precarious situations (e.g., refugees, and migrants, among others). This initiative leveraged sports as a recreational activity to engage and inspire the target groups. Building upon the success of this project, the partners moved forward with the NEXT STEPS initiative.

The NEXT STEPS project, funded by the European Union, aimed to develop and test a systematic process for placing former detainees in the labour market. Recently, the consortium achieved a key milestone by completing the compilation of a database comprising seventy-eight volunteer organisations and companies willing to offer internships and jobs to former inmates.

Beyond establishing the database, the NEXT STEPS initiative organised training workshops for prison staff and volunteers across the participating countries. These workshops equipped participants with tools to objectively document the key competencies of incarcerated individuals, crucial for steering them towards future employment.

Reintegration Processes and Recommendations from the NEXT STEPS Project
 

The reintegration process varies significantly across different countries and prison establishments. NEXT STEPS undertook the complex challenge of delineating the processes in each of the consortium countries to better comprehend their functioning. This documentation was created using the information gathered throughout the project.

While there are isolated efforts to integrate formerly incarcerated individuals into the labour market, these efforts often lack the involvement of all necessary stakeholders. Implementing a comprehensive and effective reintegration process is inherently complex and time-consuming. 

Each country has identified significant positive initiatives, however, scaling these success stories is often hampered by insufficient funding or systemic collaboration issues among various organisations. While these issues require high-level reforms for policy coordination and resource investment across sectors (including justice, education and labour), some steps can be initiated at a prison-community level to remove practices that hinder the reintegration process.

Figure 1. NEXT STEPS Process Chain Recommendation.

The NEXT STEPS has developed a general foundational framework for addressing the challenges faced by former detainees in re-entering the labour market. The proposed process chain (summarised in Figure 1.) is based on thorough stakeholder research and practical expertise. 

It reinforces that by adopting a holistic and collaborative approach, more effective pathways for successful reintegration into society can be created. 

The full process chain document is available on the NEXT STEPS website. Interested individuals can also follow the project’s progress and outcomes through its newsletter.

Learn more about this project

NEXT STEPS

Development and testing of a process chain for the placement of former detainees as specialists in the labour market

The NEXT STEPS project is led by the Westdeutscher Handwerkskammertag (West German Chamber of Crafts, Germany) in partnership with  IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Portugal), The Austrian Center for Lifelong Learning, two project partners from Germany, namely Base-und Softballvereinigung Wassenberg 01 e.V. (Wassenberg Base and Softball Association) and Talentbrücke GmbH & Co. KG , and three Italian partners: Scuola Costruzioni Vicenza Andrea Palladio (Construction School Vicenza Andrea Palladio), Antigone Onlus, and Linc.

For more information about the NEXT STEPS project, please visit its website.


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