The Indiana approach expands the range of career pathways available to residents by allowing access to nonprofit, private-sector, and public-sector work that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to access during incarceration. The model demonstrates how remote employment, technology access, transportation, workplace infrastructure, and financial responsibility function together as part of a broader employment ecosystem focused on successful reentry.

SBCRC has, at different points in time, supported a range of remote work opportunities as part of its evolving work-based learning model. These have included working from dedicated office space on a university campus, working from an approved coworking space, and working from a simulated office environment within SBCRC.

The combination of on-site office space, coworking environments, and coordinated transportation created pathways to remote employment while maintaining appropriate structure and supervision.

Residents have access to the tools needed to perform remote work, including laptops (like Chromebooks), cell phones, internet connectivity, and WiFi hotspots. SBCRC also maintains ongoing communication with residents throughout employment assignments and conducts monthly site visits to verify engagement, review work arrangements, and support accountability.

A defining feature of Indiana’s approach is that remote employment operates within a framework of real financial responsibility.

Participants earn wages through hourly, salaried, and independent contractor arrangements depending on the position. Earnings are processed according to IDOC policy and reflect financial responsibilities individuals encounter in the community.

Required deductions include:

• Victim Compensation Fund: 10% of gross earnings contributed to Indiana’s victim compensation fund.
• Federal, state, and local taxes: Withheld and reported in accordance with applicable requirements.
• Subsistence: A weekly payment of $170 covering costs associated with reentry placement and supervision.
• Transportation: A weekly payment of $35 supporting travel to approved work locations.
• Child support obligations: Applied when required.
• Other approved employment-related expenses: As applicable to the assignment.

After deductions, remaining earnings are deposited into state-monitored trust accounts, allowing residents to build savings prior to release. Some residents are able to establish or rebuild credit through secured credit cards tied to approved employment-related expenses while also accumulating significant savings. In some cases, residents leave the program with tens of thousands of dollars, supporting successful and stable housing transitions and long-term financial stability upon release. 

Wages, deductions, savings, tax compliance, and credit-building together create an employment experience that mirrors real-world financial responsibilities while supporting long-term reentry success.

Action steps for other states looking to adapt Indiana's approach

Indiana’s experience demonstrates that remote work-based learning can operate successfully within a community reentry framework when correctional leaders take thoughtful risks, solve operational challenges, and invest in the infrastructure needed to support employment.

Key lessons from Indiana’s model include:

1. Treating employment as community reintegration, where responsibility, contribution, structure, and preparation for release are practiced daily.
2. Using remote employment to expand access to professional roles beyond the local labor market.
3. Building secure technology and workspace systems that make remote work possible inside correctional and reentry settings.
4. Pairing innovation with accountability through transportation, supervision, communication, site visits, and employer coordination.
5. Connecting employment to real financial responsibility, including wages, taxes, tax-filing obligations, savings, restitution, child support, transportation costs, and credit-building.
6. Building partnerships across corrections, employers, higher education, and community organizations.
7. Positioning remote work as a complement to traditional workforce pathways.