Researchers explore how to better tap into Nebraska's prison population to fill labor gaps

OMAHA — For nearly a decade, the Nebraska Center for Justice Research has examined how the state spends millions annually on programs that aim to help prisoners integrate back into society.

A focus has been tracking groups that together receive about $3.5 million a year to deliver reentry services. The center analyzes participation, recidivism — “quantitative things, the numbers,” said director Ryan Spohn.

The legislatively funded Nebraska Center for Justice Research is based at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. (Courtesy of UNO)
But in its latest project, the legislatively funded center stepped away from the digits to offer a different spin.

Spohn’s team went to employers for first-hand accounts of what is or isn’t working in the state’s efforts to transition individuals from a stint behind bars into the labor force.

Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/12/07/researchers-explore-how-to-better-tap-into-nebraskas-prison-population-to-fill-labor-gaps/