This press release details the U.S. Department of Education's announcement of a new path for borrowers who are incarcerated to exit default through consolidation, providing them access to improved credit and to better repayment options than ever before. Borrowers who had student loans before becoming incarcerated can now consolidate their loans to get out of default, providing them with certain types of loans—including Perkins Loans and commercially held Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL) loans—to gain access to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans like the Saving on a Valuable…
This news article from the Washington Post explores how thousands of minors like Yusef Qualls-El, who is highlighted in the article, received sentences of life without parole and entered prison at an age when their peers were going to college or starting their careers. But inside, education is often reserved for those who will soon return to society. As a result, those who were seen as the least likely to get out had the fewest opportunities. The article showcases Yusef Qualls-El's story and his next steps.
This article reports that many people in Illinois prisons believe they are not getting the full sentence reductions allowed under a new law that gives credit for participating in education, work, and other programs. As many as 1,000 people who are still in custody could be eligible for immediate release if they received proper sentence recalculations.
This article discusses results published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of Massachusetts Lowell of a two-year study of Brave Behind Bars, MIT's web design program for incarcerated students. The qualitative study evaluated the effects of teaching HTML and JavaScript to incarcerated students, highlighting a notable increase in their self-confidence and digital competencies—key factors in reducing recidivism, or the rate at which people who are released return to prison.
Accessing high-speed internet in correctional settings can serve as a conduit for incarcerated individuals to receive vocational and technology training programs and set them on a path to success. This recorded webinar highlights state and local examples of how leaders in this space are creating economic development opportunities for justice-impacted individuals and how they are defining their digital equity baselines, indicators, and goals, as well as tools they use to measure success.
This report addresses three questions about state-level recidivism trends:
- What progress has been made?
- How much could states save by reducing recidivism further?
- Are states ready to expand their efforts?
This report from the Prison Policy Initiative offers some much-needed clarity by piecing together the data about this country’s disparate systems of confinement. It provides a detailed look at where and why people are locked up in the U.S., and dispels some common myths about mass incarceration to focus attention on overlooked issues that urgently require reform.
This resource explores essential guidelines and best practices for data use agreements in postsecondary education in prison programs.
With support from the Ascendium Education Group and the Ichigo Foundation, Jobs for the Future’s Center for Justice & Economic Advancement is excited to launch the Normalizing Education Collective (the Collective), a year-long community of practice designed to support non-profit postsecondary institutions nationwide as they explore building or expanding high-quality postsecondary pathways in prison that…
Reentry and Chances
Second Chance Month has noble aims, and in many ways has strived to address the collateral consequences that extend long beyond a person’s release from incarceration.
A primary goal of Second Chance Month is to raise awareness on the challenges that individuals face when reentering society after incarceration, and to provide interventions that will enhance the likelihood of successful reentry. Contemplating these challenges, the scarcity of opportunities to adequately prepare for reentry during incarceration comes to mind. The impact and…
