Programma 2121’s model invited as best practice at the “Zero Recidivism“ conference at the Italian National Economic and Labor Committee (CNEL)

Programma 2121 has been presented by dr. Nadia Boschi Head of Sustainability Italy and Continental Europe, Lendlease on April 16 at Villa Lubin, Rome during the convention entitled 'Zero Recidivism. Study, training, and work in prison: from project experiences to system actions in and out of prison', organized by the CNEL together with the Italian Ministry of Justice.

The working day had the overriding goal to enhance existing experiences, skills and models of intervention by placing them in a process of multilevel governance. The Programma 2121’s model has been identified following a scouting that covered various economic, social, entrepreneurial and third sector realities. As a relevant qualified model to the creation of effective channels for matching labor supply and demand and to facilitate work outside prison to support offenders’ employability, Programma 2121 was included in the working group called "360 Degree Employment Services."

Numerous speeches helped to understand the complexity of the Italian prison system and reintegration. If implemented it can generate a triple benefit for inmates, society and businesses. It is estimated that recidivism can drop up to 2% for inmates who have had the opportunity for vocational placement, compared with a recidivism rate that in Italy today stands at 60%. Failure to provide employment opportunities for prisoners deprives the state of a return on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of up to 480 million euros.

In the closing plenary offenders’ work and training were recognized as pivotal elements in achieving the goal of reducing recidivism and the network-based system as the only one capable of dealing with the complexity of the prison world. The commitment by the institutions is now to make the existing good practices systematic.