With October finally coming to an end, last week I changed out my rotation of vampire books on tape for my old favorite podcast: Planet Money.
Each time I spend an extended amount of time away from this podcast, I return wondering why I had. This time was no exception.
The episode I returned to was focused on a new class of remote workers, this time operating from prisons in Maine.
During the COVID-19 recession, the rise of remote work led to new opportunities for inmates to take classes and work toward getting high school and college degrees.
Naturally, the rise in remote opportunities and connections made through education also led to interest in having inmates engage in remote work.
Administrators saw remote work as an opportunity to reduce recidivism by helping reintegrate inmates easier and they also saw it as an opportunity for inmates to make money to pay court fees and restitution to victims and their families.
I should make clear: these are not prison workers making nominal amounts in order to qualify their work as employment. These are inmates making market-clearing wages.
The compensation was so good that both the inmates asked in the story declined to say how much they made, though one software developer confirmed he was making upwards of $100,000.
These wages go toward taxes, court-ordered restitution, child support, room and board, and what is left after that can be kept by the inmate.
In an era when employers are wringing their hands about talent, Ohio’s incarcerated population is a group of people who do not currently have access to many employment opportunities.
According to the state of Ohio, nearly 46,000 people are currently incarcerated in Ohio prisons, which equals nearly the entire population of Mansfield.
Of those 46,000 inmates, nearly three-quarters are in minimum- or medium-security prisons.
But most do not have access to opportunities to work for market wages.
Standard inmate wages as laid out in the Ohio Administrative Code cap at $24 per month.
About 1,200 inmates (less than 3% of the total prison population) take part in the Ohio Penal Industries program, which is authorized to pay above the $24 per month limit for employment for workers.
Of these, it is likely only a few hundred took part in the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program, which pays market wages, and none took part in remote work.
A report from earlier this year says 40 Maine inmates took part in their Resident Remote Work program.
That is a little over 2% of Maine’s 1,800 inmates. If a program in Ohio had a similar uptake, that would mean about 1,000 Ohio inmates would be taking part in remote work from prison.
Yes, there are some risks associated with remote work.
But overall, this program has given an opportunity for inmates in Maine to contribute, develop their human capital, escape the recidivism cycle, at the same time that they earn resources that help pay child support, restitution, court fees and taxes, and for investments in the future and provide support for employers who need them.
Why shouldn’t Ohio have this opportunity, too?
This commentary first appeared in the Ohio Capital Journal.