Empirical review of the Pathways to Employment (P2E) pilot for women in prison

Authors: Sarah Cassidy & Mark Howard

Executive Summary

Background and methods 

Pathways to Employment (P2E) is a joint case management initiative that supports women in improving their work readiness while in prison and finding and maintaining employment following release into the community. It was developed and initially implemented as a pilot project as a collaboration between Corrective Services NSW and the Apprenticeships Support Australia (ASA) arm of Business Australia. The pilot was implemented between October 2020 and March 2022 and was available to women housed in correctional centres across NSW.  Key P2E case management activities included delivery of three individually tailored sessions to participants in prison, which aimed to identify career goals and develop plans and skills for achieving those goals after release. Once released, participants were provided with ongoing mentoring and support in accessing employment opportunities over the following 6 months. P2E sessions and contacts were carried out by dedicated Reintegration Case Managers (RCMs).  This study aimed to conduct a review of the implementation, activities and outcomes of the P2E pilot, to inform best practice for the initiative and derive broader insights about women’s reintegration needs and their support in finding post-release employment. To achieve this, the study adopted a multimodal research design with three components.  First, a file audit was conducted to examine quantitative indicators relating to the procedures and outcomes of the initiative, with a focus on program completion and employment outcomes. Second, three in-depth case studies were conducted to explore the experiences of participants and dynamics of P2E delivery associated with success or failure in completing the initiative and finding employment. Third, interviews were conducted with RCMs and Community Corrections Officers (CCOs) who had supervised P2E participants while on parole in the community.