Home Corrections. There are many agency-run and volunteer programs offered to individuals incarcerated and/or supervised by the Department of Corrections (DOC). The Department's available programming changes frequently. See the Current Programming page for a master list of programs that are currently offered.
According to the NAACP, the United States makes up only 5% of the world’s population but holds 25% of the world’s prison population. Four times more prisoners are incarcerated in the U.S. today than in 1980 due to the War on Drugs. [1]
The National Institute of Justice reports that over 75% of released inmates are re-incarcerated within five years of discharge from prison; this high re-offending rate is due to many U.S. prisons focusing on punishment, rather than on rehabilitation. [2]
While 84% of state prisons offer high school classes, only 27% of state prisons offer college courses. Almost all federal prisons offer vocational training compared to only 44% of private prisons and 7% of jails. [3] While almost all federal prisons have alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs, more than a quarter of all state prisons do not provide prisoners with alcohol and drug dependency, counseling, and awareness programs. [4]
Although prison rehabilitation programs initially cost prisons money to implement, studies have shown that these programs decrease the recidivism rate, decreasing the prison population. With fewer people in prison, correctional facilities need less money to operate, thus requiring less money from taxpayers. Since educational, vocational, and drug rehabilitation programs decrease the likelihood that inmates will re-offend, they also allow ex-convicts to contribute to society, boosting the economy.
Image: The U.S. re-offending rate by crime. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Criminologists have shown that prison education classes drastically reduce the recidivism rate. In Ohio, for example, inmates who enroll in college classes have a re-offending rate of 18%, while prisoners who do not take college courses have a re-incarceration rate of 40%. Prisoners in New York who earn a college degree while incarcerated are almost half as likely to get arrested after release compared to inmates who do not earn a degree. [5] By decreasing the re-offending rate, prison education programs ultimately save the state money. For example, from 2008 to 2009, Nevada decreased the state’s prison population by 1.6%, which saved the state $38 million and prevented Nevada from spending $1.2 billion on construction costs. When one fewer Nevadan inmate re-offends, the state saves $22,000. [6] Since about 40% of state inmates and 27% of federal inmates have not completed high school, prison education programs allow inmates to gain the necessary skills they will need to find work outside of prison. [7]
In addition to educational opportunities, job-training programs in prison reduce the re-offending rate and prove to be cost-effective. For example, Minnesota’s work-release program, which permits inmates to work in the community as they approach their release dates, lowers recidivism rates. Minnesota prisoners who participate in work-release programs are almost twice as likely to find work within the first couple years of release than inmates who do not have work experience. Prisoners who participate in work-release programs are 16% less likely to be rearrested and 17% less likely to be sent back to prison. [8] From 2007 to 2011, Minnesota’s work-release program saved the state $1.25 million due to the decrease in the prison population. In clearer terms, for each inmate who participates in a work-release program, the state saves $700 on average. Vocational training also allows ex-convicts to give back to society and boost the economy. Minnesota prisoners who received job training paid $459,819 more in income taxes than those who did not get job training. [9]
Furthermore, alcohol and drug addiction programs have been shown to help prisoners rebuild their lives, increasing the chances that ex-convicts remain outside of prison. The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights reports that about 50% of inmates have a substance use disorder. [10] Although drug treatment programs are available in the majority of prisons, only 40% of drug-abusing state prisoners and about half of drug-abusing federal prisoners take part in these programs. [11] Prisoners with drug addictions should be encouraged to participate in these programs because scholars have demonstrated that drug treatment programs save correctional facilities money over time. On average, it costs California prisons $72 a day to incarcerate one prisoner. San Diego’s drug treatment programs have been shown to prevent ex-convicts from returning to prison at a cost of only $65 per day. While prisons saving $7 per prisoner may not seem like much, prisons can save hundreds of thousands of dollars if the majority of prisoners with substance use disorders participate in treatment programs. [12]
After examining the studies about the cost effectiveness of educational, vocational, and drug treatment programs, it should be a no-brainer for politicians to support policy that emboldens prisons to administer rehabilitation programs for their inmates. It is true that rehabilitation programs have an upfront cost, but policymakers must remember that in the long run, these programs greatly reduce recidivism and people’s tax dollars. It should be evident to lawmakers that the benefits of prison rehabilitation programs, which include a better economy and safer communities, vastly outweigh the costs.
Student Blog Disclaimer
The views expressed on the Student Blog are the author’s opinions and don’t necessarily represent the Wharton Public Policy Initiative’s strategies, recommendations, or opinions.
[2] “Recidivism,” www.nij.gov, last modified June 17, 2014, https://www.nij.gov/topics /corrections/recidivism/pages/welcome.aspx.
[3] Caroline Wolf Harlow, Education and Correctional Populations (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, 2003), 4, https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ecp.pdf.
[4] James J. Stephan, Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2005 (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, 2008), 6, https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf /csfcf05.pdf.
[5] James S. Vacca, “Educated Prisoners Are Less Likely to Return to Prison,” Journal of Correctional Education 55, no. 4 (2004): 298, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23292095.
[6] John H. Esperian, “The Effect of Prison Education Programs on Recidivism,” Journal of Correctional Education 61, no. 4 (2010): 332-333, http://www.jstor.org/stable /23282764.
[7] Harlow, Education and Correctional Populations, 2.
[8] Grant Duwe, “An Outcome Evaluation of a Prison Work Release Program Estimating Its Effects on Recidivism, Employment, and Cost Avoidance,” Criminal Justice Policy Review 26, no. 6 (2015): 532-533 and 543-544, doi:10.1177/0887403414524590.
[9] Ibid., 548-549.
Programs For Inmates
[10] “Incarceration, Substance Abuse, and Addiction,” www.prisonerhealth.org, accessed August 10, 2017, http://www.prisonerhealth.org/educational-resources/factsheets-2/incarceration-substance-abuse-and-addiction/.
[11] Christopher J. Mumola and Jennifer C. Karberg, Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004 (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, 2006), 1, https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/dudsfp04.pdf. [12] Kathryn E. Mccollister et al., “Long-Term Cost Effectiveness of Addiction Treatment for Criminal Offenders,” Justice Quarterly 21, no. 3 (2004): 672 and 675, doi:10.1080/07418820400095941.
Street Roots
Part II — With a statewide prison population of nearly 15,000 inmates, education programs are few and far between
This is Part II of a two-part report looking inside Oregon's prison workforce. Part Iexplores whether prison jobs exploit inmates or provide them an opportunity.
Cars in varying degrees of assembly fill up the automotive shop at Oregon State Penitentiary, from a classic Porsche to a 1965 Volvo. In the back of the shop is a small classroom. Inside, half a dozen men sit around tables, focused on the textbooks sprawled in front of them.
But learning here goes well beyond the textbook. For many of the participants, the biggest lesson is how to work with others. They face challenges every day that require them to work as a team and communicate with one another.
Prison Inmate Job Program
The two-year program is offered through Chemeketa Community College and gives students in-class and hands-on automotive experience. With the completion of general education classes offered through the college, participants of the automotive class can receive their associate degree in automotive technologies upon completion.
With the assistance of the Pell Pilot Program, many participants of the automotive program are now able to take their general education classes free of charge. This includes math and writing classes needed to earn the automotive technologies degree.
The automotive program itself, while not covered by Pell, costs inmates $25 per term. Tucker said the small fee helps the participants feel as though they’re making an investment and makes them more likely to complete the degree.
Bill Gastoni has been teaching the class for the past 14 years. Gastoni is proud of the success stories that have come out of his shop. His program boasts a recidivism rate of 2.5 percent and an average GPA of 3.8 for those who complete the program.
Altogether, the recidivism rate for graduates of Chemeketa’s College Inside is 6 percent, compared with 24.6 percent of inmates in Oregon state prisons who are convicted of a felony within three years of being released.
Inmate Kenneth Taylor, a recent graduate of the program, went right to work in the prison’s auto shop after finishing his curriculum. Some Salem residents pay the prison to have inmates repair their vehicles.
Thanks to the program, Taylor now feels more hopeful about his future and the skills that he has gained.
“It’s a great learning experience if you take advantage of it and utilize the tools we have available here,” he said. “You can get out of this program fully ready to go out into the real world and work on anything. I feel confident in my abilities at this time considering where we started.”
When we spoke with Taylor, he was only a month away from his release date and said he planned on using the skills he learned in the automotive class to pursue an engineering degree.
“Even if we can touch one out of 20 students, that’s still a positive thing,” Gastoni said. “I do my best. I try to keep contact with them on the outside, and if they have trouble, they can give us a call.”
Gerry Lee is partway through the program and credits it for helping turn his life around. He is scheduled to be released in 2019 and hopes to stay in the automotive shop until then.
“I was in a very deep, dark depression, and I just wanted to leave OSP,” Lee said. “And now with this going on, after the two-year program, there is an option to stay in and become a worker, and I would like to be able to do that for another year or more if possible.”
After dropping out of high school at age 16, Lee said he had to get used to the classroom setting again, but now feels more confident about leaving prison and finding a job.
While Taylor and Lee are both dedicated to the program, Gastoni said that’s not the case for everyone. Oftentimes students don’t give it their all or their hearts aren’t in it, Gastoni said.
“Some of them are disappointing. They’re just here because they want to stay at OSP and don’t have anything better to do but don’t have any desire to do this (automotive) afterwards,” Gastoni said. “I put a lot of effort into these guys, and then they fail or don’t care.”
Despite the program’s low recidivism rate, Taylor said that people don’t jump at the opportunity like one might expect.
“A lot of people do not want to put in the work, and they do not want to let go of the constraint put on you out there and the mentality you have to have in order to be out there,” Taylor said.
“It’s prison mentality,” Gastoni said. “You have to want to change yourself, and a lot of these guys just like being the way they are. That’s why they’re here.”
The kind of skills they learn in educational programs such as Gastoni’s are crucial to the success of these individuals once they’re released. There are the communication skills that help them work with others and the problem-solving skills that allow them to face problems head on. But more than anything, Gastoni said, is the process of learning that there are options besides criminal activity.
Prison Inmate Work Programs
“Once I get that through to them, then they get on the outside and go, ‘You know what? I can be a better person. I don’t need to go and steal or do crime. I can actually have a job, have an income and make a good living doing this,’” Gastoni said.
The program has a 15-student capacity each year. Despite the praise that the program receives from past students, enrollment has been falling below expectations. The program currently has 12 second- and 10 first-year students. This is due in part to the nature of prison, said Gastoni. Inmates get in fights or have other issues that result in them being removed from the program, or are ineligible for it to begin with.
Chemeketa also offers a Computer Assisted Drafting program at Santiam Correctional Institute, with the option of obtaining an associate degree.
One of the most effective ways to prepare inmates for the outside is through education, according to a 2014 study conducted by the RAND Corporation. The study, which examined the effects of prison education programs, concluded that inmates were 13 percent more likely to get a job after being released if they had participated in some form of correctional education.
The study also concluded that inmates who participated in educational programs were 43 percent less likely to experience reoffend within three years than those who didn’t participate.
RELATED:How do we measure recidivism?
Education assessment is one step in the initial intake process for all inmates. As of 2014, of those who entered prison without a high school diploma or equivalent, 67.1 percent were released having earned a GED.
However, with a statewide prison population of nearly 15,000 inmates, education programs are few and far between. GED and adult basic education programs are standard fare at all 14 of Oregon’s correctional facilities. Beyond that, however, inmates are left with few options. Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the state’s only women’s prison, offers the widest range of courses, including a hair salon and a barista training program. But at other facilities, there isn’t much available to provide inmates with an education that can help them succeed outside of prison.
One of the biggest roadblocks to expanding education programs, as with many state-run programs, is adequate funding. It already costs Oregon $34,510 to house an inmate for a year, before adding in the cost of college education programs inside.
Prior to 1994, many prisoners nationwide were eligible to receive Pell Grants to enroll in discounted college education programs while incarcerated. That changed when President Bill Clinton introduced the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which included a provision that barred anyone from receiving educational grants while in a penal institution.
The Obama administration has taken steps in the past few months to reinstate Pell Grants as an option for inmates. The Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, which began in July, brings together colleges and prisons across the country to provide degree and certificate programs.
According to the official notice from the U.S. Department of Education, the pilot program requires that participating institutions “only enroll students in postsecondary education and training programs that prepare them for high-demand occupations.” They must also be legally able to enter into said occupations or obtain any licenses or certifications despite their status as an ex-convict.
The U.S. Department of Education estimates in the 2016-17 school year approximately 186 inmates at three Oregon correctional facilities will be eligible for these Pell Grants through Chemeketa Community College. Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon State Correctional Institution and Santiam Correctional Institution are the only prisons in Oregon that offer the program.
In order to qualify for a Pell Grant, inmates must have one full year without any reported violent behavior or prison rule violation. At Chemeketa, the focus is on those who are within five years of being released.
Some opponents of the program say it takes away from deserving students that aren’t incarcerated. Pell’s 2016 budget is more than $32 billion, and the Department of Education estimates that the funds needed for inmate Pell grants make up less than 0.1 percent of the entire budget.
On the issue of money, Jonathan Tucker, Oregon Department of Corrections’ Salem-area education manager, refers back to the RAND study, which concluded that for every dollar spent on corrections education, taxpayers save $4 to $5.
Tucker currently manages the education programs offered through Chemeketa Community College at Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon State Correctional Institute and Santiam Correctional Institute.
One of the biggest struggles has been finding adequate resources, Tucker said. While Chemeketa’s College Inside program is offered at three correctional facilities across Salem, all program organizing is done by a single person.
“Pell is so great and it’s important symbolically, but really, until we put some money towards the actual department funding so we can have some part-time staff to come in and help, it actually makes it tougher,” Tucker said.
If this pilot program runs successfully, Tucker hopes other institutions, both correctional and educational, will see the success of College Inside.
“We want to make sure by the end of this pilot that we’re able to say we took in 71 Pell-eligible students, 71 graduated with degrees, and 69 of those 71 have not yet returned to prison,” Tucker said.
Tucker and Gastoni are starting the new year with cautious optimism. With President-elect Donald Trump soon to be sworn into office, the future of the Pell Pilot Program is unclear.
“We’re silently nervous and hopeful at the same time,” Tucker said.