'A clear winner': How education in prison can help people after release

More than fifty years ago, Cuba eradicated widespread illiteracy in one calendar year, and its literacy rate still leads the world. They achieved it by sending "brigades" of teachers and students to teach adults and children for two weeks.

Cities save money and help kids by connecting them with diploma programs. In Washington, iGrad is helping students do just this – and seeing results.

Two federally-funded Seattle tech training programs tasked with increasing diversity in the industry returned dramatically different results over the course of one year. Experts credit Apprenti's employer-driven nature, use of an online screening tool, and close ties with the local tech community with its relative success in placing 220 people in apprenticeships in its first 18 months. 94 percent of applicants to Aprenti's program were women, veterans, or persons of color, with only 55 percent holding a post-secondary degree.

In Wisconsin, the Department of Corrections is tailoring their prison education programs to meet the needs of the job market, and it is benefitting former inmates as well as the economy. Milwaukee Area Technical College works to get inmates credentials, which helps them get jobs upon release from prison. The investment pays off. For every dollar spent educating inmates, the government saves $5 in the years after their release.

A pilot program in Connecticut for young offenders matches them with older inmates as mentors who help them confront their pasts and the underlying reasons they’re in prison. They learn new life skills and personal money management as part of a growing trend to use neuroscience to inform incarceration of young adults. The program is based on prisons in Germany and two other states are setting up similar pilots, but no data is yet available on whether the approach reduces recidivism.

Street Outreach Court Detroit is a collaboration between the courts and service providers to waive legal and financial obligations post-conviction if a person makes a commitment to an individualized action plan. These plans can include steps such as substance misuse treatment, enrolling in a workforce readiness program, and accessing housing subsidies.

Math requirements are a common barrier preventing students from successfully graduating from community college in Washington state. Schools are offering a new way for non-STEM majors to earn the credit; Statway teaches students accessible statistics mixed with real-world examples as an alternate to the traditional algebra-precalculus trajectory.

Comal Heritage Food Incubator trains immigrant and refugee women to start their own businesses in the food industry. Comal offers coaching, financial support, and connections to social services. It also pays trainees, which has been vital to endure the food industry shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group also ensures members have food, rent assistance, school supplies, or diapers for their children. They partner with the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network, delivering about 290,000 meals since the pandemic began. The model is working in other cities, including Seattle and San Francisco.

The Prisoner Correspondence Project connects LGBTQ2S+ people who are incarcerated in the United States and Canada with pen pals who are not incarcerated. The consistent communication helps combat isolation and improve mental health and rehabilitation outcomes.

The Elevate program is a free, eight-week course that helps guides couples to reconnect with each other and develop their parenting skills. The program helps between 30 and 40 couples each year, in-person and virtually. Since its start in 2021, the program has reached more than 470 couples, 96% of which have said they leave the program feeling happier with their partners.