Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc.

Stopping the revolving door . . . .

Neither imprisonment or the life after should mean the loss of all the rights and attributes of citizenship.

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Policy Recommendations to Increase Higher Education Opportunities

for People in Prison and Upon Release in New York State

New York State should return meaningful higher educational opportunities to people in prison and upon their release. Fostering such access should be an integral aspect of the state’s education policy, and part of a continuum joining corrections, parole and re-entry.[1]

Our future will be measured in part by our success today in keeping our young people out of prison. But the level of educational achievement of thousands of people leaving prison now also has a direct and profound impact on their future.  Higher educational programs increase people’s ability to reintegrate into community life and assume career tracks with genuine mobility.[2] 

1. Support higher educational opportunities in prison and upon release. Options include: 

·        Restore eligibility for the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to people in prison.

·        Establish a limited fund administered by a gubernatorial commission to support education programs in prison and post-release. Estimated cost: $12 million.

·        Establish a limited fund to expand existing opportunities, especially those programs that have persisted over the past decade. Estimated cost: $10 million.

2. Mandate that DOCS provide appropriate space, security, technology, classification, holds, and other reasonable resources necessary to operate successful post-secondary initiatives within the system. 

3. Expand access to higher education for those in the community as a means of supporting successful reentry, attachment to the labor market, and community wellbeing. 

·        Reinstate the systematic use of “Educational Release” and related practices as a means of supporting individuals’ transition from prison to the community.[3]

·        Support programs statewide that connect those with criminal records to accredited colleges and universities, assisting them up through the attainment of a degree. [4]

·        Promote parole decisions that sensibly reflect and support educational achievement before and after release.

 

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[1] The New York State Department of Correctional Services’(DOCS) $2.2 billion in operating expenses is supported primarily by state tax revenue. See http://publications.budget.state.ny.us/fy0506app1/docs.pdf. From 1988 to 1998, DOCS received a $761 million budgetary increase while general support for New York State's public university system has declined by $615 million.  See http://www.justicepolicy.org/article.php?id=20.

[2] A national longitudinal study commissioned by the United States Department of Education involving over 3600 persons showed that “simply attending school behind bars reduces the likelihood of reincarceration by 29 percent.  Translated into savings, every dollar spent on education returned more than two dollars to the citizens in reduced prison costs.” U.S. Department of Education, “The Three State Recidivism Study”. Steurer, Smith and Tracy, 1997. See “Education as Crime Prevention,” The Bard Prison Initiative, www.bard.edu/bpi/images/crime_report.pdf.

[3] Educational releases, holds and other tools still exist under current DOCS Regulations and Directives.

[4] Programs such as the College and Community Fellowship and the College Initiative are examples that have proven to be effective in making these connections.

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The level of educational achievement of people leaving prison has a direct and profound impact on their future.  Most notably, higher educational programs lower rates of recidivism, and increase people’s ability to reintegrate into community life and enter the labor market with prospects for modest but genuine upward mobility.  Please consider endorsing the attached Policy Recommendations to Increase Higher Education Opportunities for People in Prison and Upon Release in New York State.  These recommendations were drafted and are supported by the following individuals/organizations: 

Mika’il DeVeaux, Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc.

Robert Gangi, The Correctional Association

Dan Karpowitz, Bard Prison Initiative

Max Kenner, Bard Prison Initiative

Glenn E. Martin, Fortune Society

Debbie Mukamal, The Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Institution named for identification purposes only)

Vivian Nixon, College and Community Fellowship

*Data and information used for this summary were taken from the NYS Department of Correctional Services.  A detailed copy of the report entitled THE HUB SYSTEM: PROFILE OF POPULATION UNDER CUSTODY ON JANUARY 1, 2007, may be found at

http://www.docs.state.ny.us/Research/Reports/Hub_Report_2007.pdf

 

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Last modified: 07/07/08