Incarcerated Offenders

A provision in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 banned access to Pell Grants for incarcerated adults. At the time, Pell grant usage among inmates constituted less than 1 percent of Federal Pell spending, but its removal all but eliminated postsecondary opportunities for inmates. Since that time, research has found that access to correctional education (i.e. adult education, postsecondary courses, and workforce training) correlates with significantly reduced chances of recidivism, increased employment prospects, and greater public safety. Under the Obama Administration the Department initiated a pilot program reinstating some incarcerated individuals’ access to Pell Grants to pursue higher education. Do you have an opinion on whether providing postsecondary for prisoners helps reduce recidivism, increase employment, and

Many programs have been initiated to help the problems of overcrowding and negligence. These include education, rehabilitation programs, work-release programs, and other preventative measures. Numerous education programs are offered to inmates. Some prisons even mandate the completion of a GED if the offender never finished high school. Many colleges in the prison’s community partner together with each other to enable higher learning as a possibility for offenders to obtain college credit. These services help inmates succeed in an inmate’s preparation to reintegrate into society with less chances of being arrested again. Offenders that are more prepared to leave prison are not as likely to commit a crime which improves the safety of the public and also saves money from taxpayers. (Office of Vocational Adult Education, 2009)

Experts examined the effect of prison college education programs on the recidivism’s rate. the sample population are offenders who completed a post-secondary education while incarcerated and those held a high school diploma/GED or did not take any education programs. The sampling frame were all inmates released from North Carolina prisons through 2014. Under the direction of NC Court of Appeals Judge John B. Lewis, Jr., committee chair person for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Alternative to present systems of Punishment office, the researchers could mail letters to every Chief Adult Correctional Education Administrator in North Carolina. Also, experts mailed letters to North Carolina public Administer, who might have some information

In this table, the authors are describing the characteristics (gender, race, age, priors, offense, and education) of the sample of Ohio inmates who completed the various correctional educational programs included in their study (college, GED, vocational, and high school) and those who did not participate in correlational educational programs (non-education).

Many offenders will be released from prison and yet approximately 60% will return for violating the law (Beard, Johnson, & Kemp, 2003). An inmate that has an education equivalent to a

The correctional educational programs plays a role in reducing recidivism. Recidivism remains high nationally, with four in 10 inmates returning to prison within three years of release. Most inmate that goes to prison had less education than the general population. I feel that it's

In the US, the number of incarcerated people in the prison systems cumulatively will form the fourth largest city in the US by population. This serves to underline the importance of addressing the issues that affect the prisoners and the other employees of these correctional services. The first issue that is affecting the success of the correctional services provided by the prison services is the congestion in the prisons. Most of the prisons in the United States were built a long time ago and with the increased population of imprisoned offenders, their capacity to handle prisoners has been greatly overstretched. An example of overstretched prison facilities is in the state of California where the state has been forced to transfer its prisoners

Currently the United States holds the leading position for having the largest prison population in the world. Considering this, the cost of re-incarcerating offenders after their release remains notably high to U.S Americans and our society. Recidivism is known as the reimprisonment of an individual that is released from prison but then later returns for being convicted of a new crime. However, there is essential data that proves the drastic reduction in recidivism through academic and vocational studies. Each year, it cost twice as much to provide a room and food for inmates than it would just to educate these prisoners.

The incarcerated individuals within the correctional facilities in Canada make up one of the highest risk population groups for HIV and it continues to be a significant problem within the Canadian correctional facilities (Chu, Elliott, & Canadian HIV/AIDS network, 2009). Canadian prisoners make up a substantial chunk of the individuals infected with HIV as whole, inside and outside of the prison system (Chu, Peddle, & Canadian HIV-AIDS Legal Network, 2010). The HIV rate in Canadian prisons remains relatively stable, which is good news, however, there is not a whole lot done in order to help the individuals who are infected with HIV at the moment (Public health agency of Canada, 2012). During the years of 2009 and 2010 there were 13,500 incarcerated inmates and of that population roughly 2% were infected with HIV, this did not include the individuals who have not disclosed their HIV status to prison officials; or those who are HIV positive but have not been tested for the virus (Public health agency of Canada, 2012). An article written by Bonnycastle and Villebrun, (2011) found that the CSC infectious disease surveillance system estimates that 70% of prisoners remain unscreened for HIV, because the prisoners at the highest risk for the disease are more likely to forgo the testing. Drug use is prohibited within Canadian prisons, however, it still continues to be a problem with the inmates (Correctional service of Canada, 2015). Drug use is the biggest reason that inmates are

Society has created many barriers to prevent successful re-entry of ex-offenders back into society. Well-funded evidence based re-entry programs which begin during incarceration and continue through post-release, can help ex-offenders overcome these barriers and successfully reintegrate them into communities. Promoting productive citizens post incarceration decreases the substantial fiscal burden of correctional systems. Thus, the research question becomes, “Is the Indianapolis Re-entry Educational Facility an effective tool at reducing recidivism of residents post release?”

If the hypothesis is confirmed the theory will suggest that the lower the education level of an individual, the more apt that individual is to having a hard time finding work. If an individual, who has been to prison or jail, gets released into society with a low education level they will have a hard time finding a job. If this individual cannot find a job they will most likely turn to crime to get money to support themselves or their families, thus proving that the lower the education rate the higher the recidivism rate is.

Although several educational programs are widely available, many inmates are unable to take advantage of them, do not complete them, or lack follow up in the form of ongoing support services once released from the correctional system. The following table displays this concern: Table 2. national and state data on inmate participation and completion . Approximate Numbers 1993-2007: Institution Type Total Number of Inmates System 165,000 167,717 Number of Inmates Enrolled in Education Programs 54,000 87,624 Rate of Attendance, At Completion of Course 50% 60% Rate of Completion

The prison system realizes that an immense majority of inmates will be released; we need to prepare them for outside life. Without the efforts of educational programs, a prison can become a “revolving door, with inmates having nowhere to go but back” to the prison with no future (Young 1). A majority of the states offer a GED program, but North Carolina profits from a Community College system that offers classes in academics, auto mechanics, masonry, wiring, plumbing, and computer literacy. The Community Colleges offer two-year degree programs in many areas. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers business association classes to inmates over twenty-five years of age. Because of the excellent programs they have to offer, more than five thousand of about thirty thousand inmates are in the education program and these numbers continue to grow.

Inmates need to be educated and rehabilitated in order to be released back into society. If prisoners receive a good education they are less likely to commit misconduct in the future. The Three State Recidivism Study

In a report from Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, Steurer, Linton, Nally and Lockwood (2010) found that 94% of state and federal inmates recognized education as the top personal reentry tool they needed before being released (p. 41). Inmates clearly understand the importance of education in their success once they are released, and it is time to provide them with the skills they need while they are incarcerated. According to Pam Levan, an adult education teacher in the Laporte County area for over twenty years, ”They [inmates] didn’t have enough basic education to know they shouldn’t do certain things that would lead them to prison, or even know the difference between right and wrong” (personal communication, December 2, 2013). Not only are inmates lacking school education resulting in a high school or college diploma, but many also lack common knowledge on what they should and should not do in society. Many inmates grew up in a family and/or neighborhood that did not teach them right from wrong but rather reinforced a life of crime. Education is the key to decreasing the cycle of crime because it allows inmates to learn from their mistakes and have a better chance at a life without crime upon their release.