Grant for Incarcerated Students
December 3, 2019
Cosumnes River College has been awarded a grant to build and support student services programs and academic pathways for students who have been incarcerated, and for face-to-face instruction in prison or jail.
The "Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Students Reentry Grant" program provides 50 California Community Colleges funding to design innovative solutions to stem the tide of recidivism and to provide options and reasons for inmates “to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation with credit-earning opportunities for good behavior, as well as in-prison program and activities participation.”
For individuals who have been incarcerated, higher education offers hope in a society where the formerly incarcerated are often forgotten, ignored, or shunned; there exists a high correlation between the level of education attained by incarcerated persons and recidivism rates. Approximately 70% of American prisoners return to prison, but this reality reduces to 13.7% for those who have earned an associate degree, and even less for those who obtain degrees beyond their AA or AS. Formerly incarcerated individuals represent a disproportionately impacted group of students on our campus. As an equity-minded college, we recognize the importance of changing what is an unacceptable reality for this population.
CRC has been awarded $113,636 for two years to:
· Strengthen the current CRC culinary program at Folsom Women’s Prison
· Build sustainable and viable pathways from Folsom Women’s Prison to CRC and from Rio Cosumnes Correctional Facility to CRC
· Develop a process that supports the identification of formerly incarcerated students to provide appropriate academic and student support services.
· Expand wrap-around services to support all CRC formerly incarcerated students.
· Establish clear guided pathways which allow currently and formerly incarcerated students to complete college in a timely manner leading to a productive career and/or transfer to university.
The project started this academic year with the addition of two new courses at RCCF: a public speaking course and a section of Construction Management.