Shown is a vocational inmate working on a car engine. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Corrections)

MARQUETTE — A recent audit report found that the Corrections Department offender vocational programs are effective overall.

Vocational programs are career and technical programs that teach inmates employment skills to use upon their release. Such programs include carpentry, cosmetology and welding.

For the report, the Office of the Auditor General assessed the Offender Success Administration, a group housed in the Corrections Department’s executive office. The auditor’s office is a nonpartisan investigative arm of the Legislature.

The department’s efforts were found to be “sufficient, with exceptions.”

The audit found that the department was successful in promoting employment opportunities through job fairs and employer tours of the vocational programs.

Additionally, the department was found effective in how it administers vocational program enrollments.

According to the performance audit, the number of inmates enrolling in and completing vocational programs has increased in recent years, from 191 in fiscal year 2021 to 831 in fiscal year 2023.

It also pointed to areas needing improvement, recommending that the administration address its data collection and evaluation and legislative reporting of program outcomes.

Kyle Kaminski, the department’s offender success administrator, said the department agrees that it needs to work on gathering more data to tell “a more complete story.”

He said it is working with other state agencies to gain access to post-release employment data. That would show longer-term outcomes from participating in vocational programs, such as future employment and wages.

However, the department faces some problems with data collection, Kaminski said.

“The department faces a practical challenge, which is when people are released from prison, they’re usually under supervision for somewhere between 12 and 24 months, so we’re able to get information about things like employment during that time period,” said Kaminski.

“But once they’re discharged from supervision, the department has no way to collect that information directly from them,” he said.

He said available data shows that access to education reduces recidivism, which is the likelihood of an ex-prisoner re-offending.

In terms of policy changes to access a broader range of data, he said the department is discussing how to acquire more information, but will need time to integrate additional information into its systems.

“I think that as we have that data, I’m hoping that it will support a broader policy discussion reaffirming the value of these types of programs,” said Kaminski. “I would fully expect that the data, once available, will be used as part of the discussion.

“I think the data is going to show that these programs are effective, and these are the types of programs that the state should continue to invest in,” he said.

Michael Harrington, an associate professor of criminal justice at Northern Michigan University, said the department’s use of “vocational villages” to increase success rates of vocational programs stands out to him.

According to the department’s website, vocational villages house prisoners participating in training programs in one unit as a “therapeutic learning environment.”

There are three villages in Michigan.

The first one began in 2016 at Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia and was extended to Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson in 2017. The third opened in 2021 at the only female prison in the state, Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti.

The department said, “Housing the prisoners together offers many advantages, such as the opportunity to discuss educational topics during nonclass time, eating together and attending other programs and leisure time activities.”

According to the audit, there are several requirements to be accepted into vocational villages. Inmates must be within 24 months of their release date, complete employment counseling and be recommended for village training.

They also must be free of misconduct charges for six months prior to the program and be classified in the proper security levels.

These villages mimic what a typical workday would look like outside of prison walls.

Harrington said, “When you look at inmate programs, we’re looking to better the inmate with the ultimate goal of them not coming back to prison and not committing more crimes. I think that is the outcome measure that the general public would really want to know.”

He also said it is hard to determine whether vocational villages have an impact on recidivism rates due to the small sample of offenders in the short period of time the villages have been operating.

The executive director of Michigan Citizens for Prison Reform, Lois Pullano, said the biggest concern about the program is that it focuses only on employment and not on inmates’ other needs.

“​ It does not address prior trauma, financial, physical, mental or emotional wellness,” she said.

Another concern is that it is only available to inmates at the lowest security levels.

“In a nutshell, we believe a vocational village is essential and a great program. However, it reaches a narrow group of people,” said Pullano.

“These programs are only available to the best of the best within the system,” she said.