• Provides inmates the opportunity to participate in full time normal employment or vocational training in the community.
• Permits inmates the opportunity to develop or strengthen good work habits and skills.
• Affords inmates opportunities to continue or strengthen constructive ties with family, friends, and the community.
• Permits the pre-release preparation of inmates and the opportunity to evaluate the readiness of these inmates for release to the community.
• Permits disbursements to be made from inmate earnings to help defray the cost of incarceration, support dependents, reduce debts, and pay court fines.
• Enables inmates to accumulate savings to help meet financial needs or burdens after release from confinement.
• Provides inmates the opportunity to meet family needs.
• Provides inmates the opportunity to earn work credits, which will reduce the time to be served on the inmate's sentence.

Inmates inappropriate for Work Release

The following circumstances shall make an inmate ineligible for participation in the work release program:

• Untried detainers for criminal offenses or immigration detainers.
• Current convictions involving sex or arson offenses.
• Previous convictions for sex or arson offenses, even if the current conviction is for an offense other then sex or arson.
• Any crime involving the manufacture, transportation, sale or possession, with the intent to sell or distribute, of a controlled dangerous substance or a controlled dangerous substance analog.
• Any crime endangering the welfare of children or incompetents which concerns sexual conduct which would impair or debauch the morals of a child or an incompetent, as set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4 and 24-7; or
• Any crime involving the use of force or the threat of force upon a person or property including; armed robbery, aggravated assault, kidnapping, arson, manslaughter, and murder.