Eli Global RFApproximately 85 percent of incarcerated individuals will eventually return home. That statistic alone should shape how we think about incarceration — not as a permanent removal from society, but as a temporary chapter that will, in almost every case, end in reentry. The question the Eli-Global Reform Foundation asks is simple: what happens during that chapter, and does it prepare someone to come home successfully?
Too often, the honest answer is no.
The Problem With Idle Time
Life inside a correctional facility is frequently defined by monotony — long stretches of time with little structure, little purpose, and few opportunities for growth. That idleness doesn’t just make time harder to serve; it actively undermines rehabilitation. Individuals who spend months or years without meaningful education, skill-building, or preparation for employment are released with the same gaps — and often the same circumstances — that contributed to their incarceration in the first place.
The continued high rate of recidivism nationwide is not a mystery. It is a direct reflection of how little structured opportunity exists inside many facilities. Simply releasing someone from jail is not rehabilitation. Without intervention, we are effectively returning people to their communities no more prepared than when they arrived.
What Actually Moves the Needle
Our foundation’s work is grounded in a straightforward belief: education and job training inside correctional facilities are among the most effective, evidence-backed tools for reducing recidivism. When incarcerated individuals gain access to basic education, vocational skills, and structured work-release programs, they leave with more than a release date — they leave with a foundation for employment, stability, and a legitimate path forward.
This matters most for the population we focus on: individuals serving sentences of at least three months but no longer than a year. This window represents a critical opportunity — long enough to deliver meaningful programming, short enough that reentry is imminent and preparation is urgent.
The Ripple Effect
The payoff from investing in education and job training extends well beyond the individual. Safer jails. Higher rates of employment and higher household incomes upon release. Significantly lower recidivism rates. And, critically, a lighter burden on the low-income families and communities that most incarcerated individuals return to — families who are often left to absorb the consequences of a system that didn’t prepare their loved one for reentry.
This is also where generational incarceration takes root or is prevented. A parent who returns home with a job and a stable path forward is far more likely to break the cycle for their children than one who returns to the same circumstances that led to incarceration in the first place.
Innovation Requires Partnership
None of this happens through good intentions alone. It requires close partnership between corrections professionals, policymakers, educators, and organizations like ours that are willing to advocate for and help build these programs from the ground up. The Eli-Global Reform Foundation works at the intersection of these groups — connecting educational, political, and community leaders around a shared goal: proven, practical solutions that reduce recidivism.
Support Education-First Reform
Every program we help advance inside a correctional facility is a direct investment in someone’s second chance — and in the safety and strength of the community they’ll return to.
Read more about our approach or donate now to help expand education and job-training access inside our jails.