Correlating unemployment and release: A data guide for advocates, organizers, and service providers

What is this data?

The maps show us two things: how much unemployment do we have in the different counties across Massachusetts, and which counties are people returning to each year when they are released from state or federal facilities?

What does this data not tell us?

It's possible that returning citizens are not the reason (or at least not the only reason) why unemployment is high in a county. This data just lets us compare unemployment in a county with the number of people being released to that county over the same period.

Who could use this data, and how?

Re-entry service practitioners: know that jobs make an enormous difference in preventing recidivism (people going back to prison). They need to be able to make a case to their communities, funders, and boards about how much time, money, and staff need to be spent on employment services. Knowing where to concentrate those resources helps us more efficiently get help to the people who need it.

Funders and state administrators make decisions about how to pass around funding, experts, and facilities. It's helpful to have more information about who needs how much support.

Churches and other non-profits often carry the load of supporting unemployed returning citizens who are already at the point of hunger, homelessness, or poverty. Having the backup info to tackle unemployment as a root cause of these symptoms would help to lift some of that load.

Job policy advocates know all too well that there are overly simple stories floating around about why people are unemployed, and that those stories impact what policies and funding we can get to support returning citizens who are working hard to get back on their feet. If we think unemployed people don't have jobs because they are lazy or not able to pull themselves by their bootstraps, we are missing key factors that we can actually change – and this data can help to illustrate one of those factors.

What would we need to make this data really useful to advocates, service providers, and organizers?

It would be great to know....