INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — MICROENTERPRISE TRAINING FOR WOMEN IN CORRECTIONS (IA, UT, DE, NY, NE, & MS)

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Program Description
The Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED), a nonprofit organization, provides a highly structured set of employment services to assist low-income individuals entering the labor market. The Institute also provides direct and supportive services to the individuals and to the various agencies that help them. ISED’s headquarters are in Coralville, Iowa; however, there are five other offices in Iowa and the Institute has branches in Utah, Arkansas, Delaware, New York, Nebraska, and Mississippi.

ISED’s Microenterprise Training for Women in Corrections (MTWC) program, launched in 2001, assists women who are incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa. ISED collaborates with the Iowa Women’s Enterprise Center and the Iowa Department of Corrections to provide entrepreneurial training to women in prison. The Microenterprise Training for Women in Corrections focuses on helping the women to use their talents and skills to start small businesses, obtain quality jobs, and build financial assets to help them become economically independent and successful members of the community.

While in prison, participants attend business planning training workshops. After release, the women receive follow-up one-on-one technical assistance from a trained business consultant. Additional support is provided via a partnership between the community corrections/parole officer and a community sponsor who assists the new business owner with connecting to community supports or other services that are key to becoming a successful independent member of the community. Paroled inmates must meet all conditions of release and are encouraged to obtain jobs and stabilize their household before they embark on full time self-employment.

ISED also provides support to the Bridges of Iowa program, a faith-based nonprofit reentry program, which provides substance abuse treatment through residential and aftercare treatment. Participants may come to the program if a judge chooses treatment rather than prison, or participants are assigned to the program before they leave prison and reenter the community. ISED provides support by developing a curriculum and set of interventions directed toward preparing offenders for reentry, focusing on their financial and economic situations. A financial assessment is done upon their entry into the program. The assessment and reentry plan are comprehensive and integrated into their overall reentry plan. This involvement by ISED with Bridges of Iowa is in its early stages, but the experience thus far has been promising. Roughly 20 have been assessed and the curriculum is being developed from the findings of these assessments.

Program Goals
The goal of the Microenterprise Training for Women in Corrections is to strengthen the social and economic well being of individuals and communities.

Networking, Partnering & Collaboration
ISED serves this population through its Iowa Women’s Enterprise Center (a women’s business center) in partnership with the Iowa Department of Corrections. Funding for the project was made possible through a grant from the MS Foundation for Women’s Collaborative Fund. While in prison, participants work with ISED staff and volunteers. Upon release, participants continue to be served by ISED’s network of staff and consultants in their location of residence; they are linked to a variety of programs and services in cooperation with Community Corrections (Parole Officers). Some of these connections include faithbased organizations, financial literacy programs, job training programs, and substance abuse groups.

Outcomes
Although no formal third party evaluation has been conducted, ISED is participating in a survey program with the Aspen Institute to track program graduates post-training. No results from this survey have been published to date. However, according to ISED, in its two years of operation:

• Of the 11 women who have been released, approximately 50 percent have continued to work with ISED post-release.
• 135 clients have participated in orientation.
• 102 went on to attend the full class.
• 71 have graduated from the training (although a portion of the 102 are still in training).
• 16 have completed full business plans.
• 11 have been released.
• Four business outcomes have been achieved.

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