Evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Correction's Career Navigators Program: Final Report

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davis, Lois M.

Contributor:

Tolbert, Michelle C.

Turner, Susan

Language:

English

Other Title:

Evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Correction's Career Navigators Program

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, Calif. RAND Corporation 2022

Summary:

Career navigators assist individuals with college and training opportunities when they return to the community and at the front end of the corrections process (while they are still incarcerated) to identify academic education and career technical education (CTE) programs that align with their interests and that will enable them to earn certificates or degrees in their chosen field. In recent years, career navigators have been increasingly viewed as an important part of correctional education, particularly given the significant increase in postsecondary education opportunities for incarcerated individuals. The Minnesota Department of Corrections (MNDOC) recognized a key gap in its education strategic plan — the lack of career navigators — and conceived of the concept of its Career Navigators (CN) program to address this gap. The Ascendium Education Group (formerly the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation) awarded a grant to the RAND Corporation, in partnership with RTI International, to conduct an independent evaluation of MNDOC's CN program. This research report presents the final findings from RAND's evaluation of the CN program. This report should be of interest to educators who develop and provide education programs for incarcerated adults, subject-matter experts who study correctional education, and to corrections officials and policymakers.