Behind bars, but seeking a brighter future

On a recent Wednesday morning, 16 men incarcerated at MCI-Shirley sat at computers in a classroom and learned web development skills. One man tried to replicate a logo for a mobile app. His dream, he said, is to run a startup app company. Another man, interested in fashion design, was designing a website.

The men were participants in The Last Mile, a national program the Massachusetts Department of Correction brought in this March to teach incarcerated people software development. Each student received a laptop so they could practice in their housing unit.

Providing education to people in prison is one of the best things the state can do to steer them toward a better future. Inmates participating in correctional educational programs are 28 percent less likely to recidivate compared to other inmates, according to a 2018 study by Rand Corporation researchers. One reason may be that they can more easily find a job. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy says offering college courses to inmates has a return on investment of nearly $20 for every $1 spent. College programs can positively impact prison culture and public safety.

The Massachusetts Department of Correction is making strides to improve educational offerings. In September, it started offering tablets to all incarcerated individuals, with the last prison to get them, Souza-Baranowski, slated to come online soon. Yet the department needs to continue to ramp up its educational programs to ensure that all inmates who want to further their education in prison can.

As of Dec.1, 2021, the Department of Correction had 886 inmates enrolled in educational programs and 4,065 on waiting lists, according to a response to a public records request made by Mary Valerio, a criminal-justice reform advocate in Clinton. This includes adult basic education, postsecondary education, and vocational and technological training.

Correction officials say this paints an incomplete picture of the demand. Some people are on multiple waitlists. Some cannot participate in a class because of conflicts (such as that they are in another program), some got on the list but are uninterested in taking the class, and some may be listed as unenrolled while a class is on break. The longest waiting lists are for vocational programs where the size of a barber shop or kitchen, and the need for careful supervision around tools, limits program size. This school year, 53 percent of incarcerated individuals in state prisons were enrolled in an educational program, according to Bernard Audette, director of education at the Department of Correction.

Yet the size of the waiting lists suggests there remains room for expansion, and state officials should look for ways to eliminate barriers and expand educational offerings.

The issue is timely; on July 1 incarcerated students will become eligible for Pell Grants for the first time since 1994 under a spending bill Congress passed in 2020. The money goes to the educational institution, so this could provide a new pool of money for colleges to expand prison programs. Today many private college programs in prisons rely on philanthropy.

An October 2022 Boston Foundation report found that five universities were offering degree-granting programs in state prisons, but since the 1970s, fewer than 500 degrees or certificates have been given to incarcerated people. Private college programs can be small, with some accepting fewer than 20 students per cohort.

Some public colleges do offer prison programs. Mount Wachusett Community College has 85 students across two prisons and is working on expanding its certificate program in business administration, bookkeeping, and accounting to let students obtain an associate’s degree. That school participated in a pilot program that let it accept Pell Grant funding. The broadening of the Pell program makes it a good time for other public colleges to explore partnerships with DOC that let incarcerated individuals earn college credit and get a degree.

There are a host of barriers to obtaining a degree in prison. According to the Boston Foundation report, a lack of access to technology can give students little opportunity to use a computer for schoolwork or to take an online class. Prisons can lack physical spaces for students to take classes or concentrate on work. Students can be reclassified — for example from a medium- to minimum-security prison — and moved to a new facility with no opportunity to continue the class. There are administrative hurdles, as volunteers and teachers need to be cleared by the Department of Correction, and educational materials must be approved.

“The two worlds of corrections and education really don’t understand each other well,” said Lee Perlman, codirector of the Educational Justice Institute at MIT, which offers classes in prisons. “There’s a real culture clash between them.”

Correction officials are taking some steps to address these problems. MCI-Shirley is creating a dedicated housing unit for the approximately 75 to 80 men enrolled in postsecondary education to make it easier for them to create study groups and work. The DOC is developing online minicourses that can be distributed through videos and is working on basic education courses, like GED preparation, that can be taught remotely with a live instructor. The state should continue to embrace innovative

On July 1 incarcerated students will become eligible for Pell Grants for the first time since 1994. The money goes to the educational institution, so this could provide a new pool of money for colleges to expand prison programs.

proposals.

For example, Perlman said that in Maine, he offers online classes where students from MIT and from different prisons connect to class via Zoom, with breakout sessions where teaching assistants provide individualized attention. Perlman has online conferences with students and e-mails them. Perlman said Massachusetts has been slower to adopt similar initiatives.

Perlman coled the New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison, which released a June 2023 report that made myriad recommendations for improving the system. These include expanding technology access while examining physical spaces to identify rooms that can be used for education. The report suggests the department consider a person’s educational needs when determining where to place them, initially and following reclassification. This might mean giving a prisoner who is reclassified the opportunity to stay at their current facility until a class finishes. Educational institutions should ensure prisonbased credits are transferable. Prison officials should work with educational institutions to expedite security reviews related to staff and materials.

Jose Bou, incarcerated at MCI-Norfolk from 2002 to 2009, earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Boston University in prison. He took four classes a semester and spent time studying, graduating with a 3.98 GPA. “It was the first thing I ever finished,” he said.

After his release, Bou earned a master’s degree in criminal justice while working for an organization that helped at-risk youth. He has taught restorative justice at a college level and worked in the Holyoke public schools. Education, Bou said, “turns someone who’s a tax burden into a taxpayer.”