Education turns hard time into productive time
With more than 6 million Americans under correctional supervision, including 2.2 million people incarcerated in our nation’s prisons, prisons have become one of our nation’s most critical public institutions.
Our success as a nation depends upon our collective ability to rekindle ambition, desist cynicism and end alienation in order to promote fairness and improvements in all areas of the justice system.
Correctional officials and incarcerated individuals have long shared the belief that our achievements can be defined by our collective ability to foster public safety through rehabilitation and reintegration into society through successful employment. The future of our democracy depends on it.
The context for this change is clear. Education in prison changes the landscape of justice. Research has continually shown that prison education programs can significantly improve the outcomes for returning citizens by ensuring that educational programs focus on future employment.
This is accomplished by intentionally shifting program offerings toward employment skills and certificate programs for in demand fields that are predicated on literacy, high school equivalency, and post-secondary education programs. Research has also shown that crime and unemployment are linked and that strong ties to meaningful employment lead to lower recidivism. Work is therefore a buffer against crime and recidivism.
Recidivism has been the main outcome measured in most evaluations of prison and post release employment programs. But research shows that work release participants who begin employment education while in prison, followed by transitional work release while still incarcerated, and later by employment retention services upon release, received many benefits beyond what can be captured in the recidivism rate.
Inmates who took part in the aforementioned work-specific programming experienced much higher employment rates, greater retention and increased overall earnings than other employment programs for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Programs that provide this continuum of service delivery from institution to community yield better recidivism, employment, and return on investment.
While no single agency can meet all of the work force development needs of returning citizens, an integrated systems approach has been shown to greatly expand the criminal justice network to ensure maximum employment outcomes for justice involved individuals.
In this vein, the Tennessee Department of Correction has developed partnerships and interagency collaboration with a number of agencies including the Memphis Shelby County Office of Reentry, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation to develop training programs tailored to successful work outcomes with broad employment options.
This investment in the knowledge economy, aligning education and employment within the justice system in Tennessee, is strongly indicative of the success of coordinated interagency partnerships.
Recognizing the critical role of correctional education to reform, rehabilitate and promote successful reentry is an important first step in aligning agency goals to achieve effective and positive outcomes for post release employment.
Collaborating across education, employment and corrections ensures effective access, delivery and continuity of services during and after incarceration. Recognizing that each component must work collectively through partnerships and policy coordination, limits systemic barriers to education and employment.
A systems approach that builds strong inter-agency partnerships and support networks, as well as a continuum of services fostering public safety through rehabilitation and reintegration, is key to Tennessee’s future success.
Tony Parker is commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction.