Incentives Work: Community Supervision and Parole Employment Credits Promote Economy and Public Safe

Texas policymakers can increase safety and promote the economy by incentivizing people on community supervision (probation) and parole to gain and maintain steady employment while serving sentences in the community. [...] Less than 12 percent of employed people were terminated due to a revocation, compared to 19 percent of unemployed people.4 Texas policymakers can build on this work to maximize the benefits for public safety and the economy by implementing policies that • incentivize steady employment, Percent of Parole Terminations due to • offer ongoing credit opportunities, and Revocations, by Employment Status. [...] A large body of research agrees that steady employment increases the chances of success on probation and Unemployed 19% decreases the likelihood of recidivism.5 In addition to benefiting the state’s economy, incentivizing steady employment through time Source: ASJ analysis of data from Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. [...] Surveys of people on probation and parole consistently rank time reductions as the most valued incentive.10 Texas policymakers can leverage this insight to motivate people on community supervision and parole to integrate into the workforce through work incentives that allow people to earn time credits to reduce the length of their supervision. [...] By encouraging the hundreds of thousands of people under community supervision and on parole to enter into the workforce, work incentives can support the economic growth of Texas.