Education and Employment Characteristics of Incarcerated Young Adults

This study explores the education and employment characteristics of individuals 22 and under incarcerated in Washington State. The cohort represented in this study consisted of individuals who were aged 18-22 on September 30, 2014 (defined as individuals born October 1, 1991 through September 30, 1996) who were identified as incarcerated within the Department of Corrections (DOC) or in the Jail system on or at any point prior to that date.

This research was conducted using identity matching to link the identities of individuals in the cohort with educational and employment information found in the Education Research and Data Center (ERDC) P20-ID system. This included their (1) 7th-12th grade WA public education records, (2) post-secondary education records (which includes WA public community and technical colleges, as well as WA public four-year universities), and (3) their employment history.