Sandhills Vocational Delivery System Experiment: An Examination of Correctional Program Implementation and Effectiveness

• NCJ Number: 108967
• Author(s): P K Lattimore; A D Witte; J R Baker
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 158 pages
• Grant Number(s): 85-IJ-CX-0060
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report presents the findings of a 4.5-year study of the implementation and effectiveness of a vocational rehabilitation program for 18- to 22-year-old male property offenders.

Abstract

Analyses of treatment integrity focused on how well the rehabilitation program was implemented, and the implementation and integrity of the true experimental design for the evaluation were assessed. Three study groups were randomly selected: an experimental and control group within the facility offering the program and a control (comparison) group not assigned to the facility. The second set of analyses identified treatment differences in experimental and control groups. Findings indicate the program increased participants' vocational skills, although only a few members of each group successfully completed programs. Analyses of postrelease activities (e.g., employed, not employed) showed no significant differences in employment outcomes. Interpretations of the findings are subject to the following qualifications: (1) the difference in treatment between the experimental and the internal control groups may not have been large enough to effect improvement in postrelease employment, and (2) the experimental and the internal control groups were, on average, serving longer sentences than the external control group. Survival analysis techniques were used to determine the time until first arrest and first reincarceration following release. 35 tables and 14 figures. (Author abstract modified)