Digital Job Search Tool for Offenders Helps Decrease Recidivism Rate

DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Correctional facilities in 28 states empower their incarcerated population with technology aimed at helping them learn about available jobs in their community while they are serving their time. Offenders searched for jobs in record numbers the past 12 months, reaching a milestone of nearly 10.6 million searches. Securus Technologies' Jobview application is available on the SecureView® Tablet and through Securus Video Visitation terminals.

The SecureView® Tablet provides opportunities for the incarcerated to stay connected to their family, friends and the outside world as well as prepare for reentry into the community. Securus offers the community tablets at no cost to taxpayers or the incarcerated. This digital tool allows offenders to work on personal rehabilitation with applications such as Jobview, education, mental health and law library.

The tablets can also be used for phone calls, which are monitored by the agency with the exception of client-attorney calls which are protected. Risk is decreased since the SecureView® Tablet does not offer access to:

• Internet
• Social media
• Camera
• Video recordings

Correctional staff say the tablets occupy the time of the incarcerated in productive ways and helps prepare them for reentry.

"For those who want to improve themselves, it opens up that door," said Sheriff Mark Lamb, Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Arizona. "Jobview gives offenders opportunities, so if they're getting out of jail, they know how to prepare for a job as well as know who's hiring."

The Manhattan Institute study revealed that "Enhanced job-readiness training and job-search assistance helped reduce recidivism among non-violent ex-offenders by one-third, with rearrests dropping from 52% to 35%."

Jobview allows the incarcerated to create an action plan for reentry, and some even use it to find job opportunities for their family and friends. In the last 12 months, Jobview has an average of 135,000 plus monthly users, which is 42% higher than a year ago, and an average of 882,729 monthly jobs searches, up 69% from the previous year.

"Jobview is a resource that helps break the cycle of despair felt by offenders who have perhaps never had gainful employment," explained Ryan Solberg, Vice President, Site Operations, Jobview.

The first Jobview correctional facility to launch the application is The Federal Correctional Institution in Bastrop, Texas. Since its first corrections launch in 2009, the digital tool is now used in nearly 30 states which include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

About Securus Technologies

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serving more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,200,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. Securus Technologies connecting what matters®. For more information, please visit SecurusTechnologies.com.

SOURCE Securus Technologies