How COVID Impacts Education — Prison Literature Club Adapts During COVID Lockdowns

The University of Wyoming’s Pathways from Prison program uses federal Pell Grant money and private donations to fund college education for inmates. The program offers four-year degrees and aims to provide them with the skills, tools and knowledge to reenter society in a positive way. Studies show educational programs decrease recidivism rates by 14.8%, and those participating in the program say their self-worth and sense of hope have significantly increased.

California is shifting to expand programs that help give incarcerated people the skills and knowledge they need to effectively transition back into society. Various re-entry programs for men and women across the state that connect people with education and job resources helped dropped recidivism rates from 44.6% to 41.9%, based on the state’s most recent data, and also cost taxpayers less than the average cost of incarceration.

California is leading the nation in prison education. “There are now in-person community college classes in all but one prison in the state, enrolling some 4,000 students." Nationally, 4 percent of higher ed institutions teach for-credit classes in prisons. “It's been the most amazing experience of my entire life, as either a free man or as an incarcerated human being." Evidence shows that providing people in prison with education reduces recidivism rates. “A major study by the RAND Corporation found taking classes in prison cuts the chances of getting locked up again by 43%.”

Providing those experiencing incarceration with educational services has shown to reduce recidivism by 28%. While many prisons offer GED or higher education classes, the opportunities are still hard to come by consistently, so organizations like Underground Scholars help recruit individuals after prison to colleges. Looking forward, those pushing for criminal justice reform hope to overturn a 1994 legislation that banned incarcerated individuals from being eligible for Pell Grants, which could help drive more people from prison to school.

In the Inside-Out Exchange program half of the students are college students, and the other half are prison inmates. The program has “expanded to about 150 correctional institutions across the globe” but the biggest takeaway is the effect it has on people. Students were “ engaged in a way they never had been in the classroom. For the inmates, suddenly their opinions mattered.”

Lack of education was the downfall of one Philadelphia man who spent 36 years in prison, and education proved to be his redemption when he discovered he could do well in coursework. He got a college degree and helped bring the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program to the prison where he was incarcerated. He continues to work with the program, which matches prisoners with college students and professors to help them gain the skills they need, and also fosters more compassion and understanding for those incarcerated.

Five Keys Charter School, established in 2003, works in various California prisons to provide education and job training to inmates. Since its founding, Five Keys has awarded 684 high school diplomas to inmates in custody and 712 more to people who completed their coursework at a network of community sites scattered around San Francisco and Los Angeles.

A Rotary club in Topeka, Kansas, has transformed reentry support for incarcerated women at the Shawnee County Jail through Intersection to Care, a program that pairs immediate-release support with mentorship, skills classes, and subsidized housing. The program, led by women with lived experience of incarceration, meets women at the jail exit to prevent trafficking, connects them to recovery housing through Oxford House of Kansas, and offers technology, health, art, and movement classes inside the facility. Since launching in 2022, the initiative has assisted more than 1,000 women.

Illinois has implemented mental health courts across 31 counties as an alternative to incarceration for people with mental illness. These specialized courts divert defendants into community-based treatment programs lasting 1-2 years, featuring regular court appearances, counseling and drug testing. Since 2017, approximately 50% of participants have successfully graduated from mental health court programs statewide, with 11,000+ diverted from prison through the broader Adult Redeploy Illinois initiative.

In response to the dangerous gap in health services that incarcerated people face upon release, California and 26 other states have implemented Medicaid waivers allowing coverage to begin up to 90 days before release and continue for up to a year afterward. The program connects inmates with case managers, medications, housing assistance, and mental health care before they walk out the door. California's program has already enrolled more than 50,000 incarcerated people in prerelease services since January 2023.