The Ready4Work program, launched in 2003, is a national demonstration project managed by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) that aims to reduce recidivism, and redress the personal and societal costs that recidivism poses. Ready4Work provides program services that are believed to facilitate successful reentry, including: 1) job training and placement services; 2) case management; and 3) mentoring from community or faith-based organizations, which is a key component of the Ready4Work model.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration contracted with Social Policy Research Associates to conduct a peer review and data validation of the Ready4Work program’s data collection system. The study documented the reliability and validity of the data captured by Ready4Work grantees, and assessed the extent to which the data accurately captured the services provided and outcomes obtained under the initiative. Findings include the following: (1) A single project coordinator or other data manager responsible for the management of the project’s data helped streamline the data collection process and ensure the data is accurate. (2) Employment outcomes were difficult to verify since a participant that secured any work was counted as a successful placement, regardless of how long the person worked, or if the job was a temporary placement. (3) Collection of data for recidivism at the site level posed a concern. Although P/PV used the recidivism definition similar to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, staff at sites did not always use the same definition in calculating recidivism data. (4) Recidivism data were difficult to collect because these figures were generally not tracked at the local or state level, the few data that were available could not be disaggregated to compare with Ready4Work participants, and there was considerable variability in how recidivism was measured in different localities and jurisdictions.