Groundbreaking Independent Study Links Short-Term Cash Aid to Long-Term Stability & Reduced Parole Violations for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals

NEW YORK, April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A groundbreaking and independent impact study by MDRC finds that the Center for Employment Opportunities' (CEO) Returning Citizens Stimulus (RCS) program significantly reduced parole violations a year after incarceration— despite the payments lasting only 60 days.

Launched in 2020, the RCS program provided up to $2,750 in cash assistance to formerly incarcerated people across the nation who had been locked out of COVID-19 stimulus programs. CEO distributed payments to over 10,000 individuals while ensuring connection to critical services through a network of partners.

Parole and probation violations accounted for 27% of all admissions to state and federal prisons in 2025, and cost the US amounts over $10 billion a year. Lawmakers should note that direct cash assistance could lead to a decrease in the incarcerated population and provide substantial cost savings to taxpayers.

"Every person deserves a fair chance—and that starts with real, tangible assistance the moment they return from incarceration," Sam Schaeffer, CEO of the Center for Employment Opportunities. "When we give people autonomy and agency in the reentry journey, they achieve amazing things. This research underscores the urgent need to shift how we support people returning home and strengthens the growing body of evidence demonstrating the need to focus on cost-effective, data driven solutions that provide a sound foundation during the most vulnerable stage of reentry."

Key findings include:

• 6 Months Post-Release

• • Parole violations reduced by over 41% (8% of RCS participants had parole violations vs. 14% of comparison group members).
  • Violent parole violations dropped by 64% (0.99% of RCS participants had parole violations vs. 2.77% of comparison group members).
• According to MDRC, RCS may have been effective at reducing reincarceration among program participants in the 18-, 24-, and 30-month follow-up periods.

"These findings demonstrate that the Returning Citizens Stimulus program is promising as a model intervention for reducing parole violations and reincarceration during the critical first year following release from prison," said Sarah Picard, Director of the MDRC Center for Criminal Justice Research. "Given the link between early reentry success and improved longer term outcomes for returning citizens, the program makes a critical contribution to establishing cash stimulus as an evidence-based strategy."

Full press release linked here 

Contact:
Claire Gross, Sr. Manager of Public Relations 
[email protected] | (646) 370-8292

SOURCE Center for Employment Opportunities