Getting out is one thing. Staying out is another.

For people returning home from prison, the obstacles are immediate. Work is hard to secure. Stability is harder. And without both, the cycle can repeat.

But a new University of Rhode Island study points to something that’s showing real results.

Researchers Natalie Pifer and Chelsea Farrell of the URI Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice conducted a deep, multi-year evaluation of Building Futures Inside, a Providence-based construction training program for incarcerated individuals.

Their work was supported through the Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy and focused on both data and lived experience from participants, staff, and correctional stakeholders.

The findings are hard to ignore.

About 95% of participants completed the program. Roughly 70% secured full-time employment after release. Even more striking, only about 9% returned to prison during the study window, compared to a statewide rate of roughly 43%.

That gap matters.

This isn’t just job training. It’s structure, support, and a real pathway forward. Participants leave with construction skills, classroom instruction, and therapeutic support designed to help them re-enter society with stability, not uncertainty.

And the economic impact is real. Graduates move into construction jobs averaging nearly $38.68 per hour—often significantly higher than what they earned before incarceration.

But the biggest shift may not be financial.

Participants reported something harder to measure but just as important: hope. Focus. A clearer sense of direction. Not just avoiding a return to prison, but building something worth staying out for.

Researchers note this shift as one of the strongest indicators of long-term success.

Is the program perfect? No. Researchers emphasize the need for longer-term tracking and continued evaluation.

But the early signal is clear.

If we want safer communities and real reentry success, we can’t rely on hope alone. We need systems that actually prepare people for what comes next.

This is one of them.