David - I have always found that the statistics on the children
of inmates have had a positive effect on the merits of correctional
education.  The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report on Incarcerated
Parents and their Children states that 2.1% of the minor children in the
United States had at least one parent in prison on any given day.  Over the
course of childhood, over ten million children have lived with the stigma of
absent and incarcerated parents.  You can find or estimate that number in
Kentucky and than talk about the educational level of the parent being the
major determining factor in the educational level of the child.
Additionally, of course, are the studies that link correctional education
with a reduction in recidivism.  The Three State Recidivism Study, sponsored
by the Correctional Education Association and the United States Department
of Education, was encouraging in terms of reduction of both numbers of
recidivists and tax dollars spent on corrections.  The most effective
educational plan for reducing recidivism from that study involved inmate
students who participated in occupational training programs and then were
employed in that trade area upon release.  However, even the slightest
involvement in an education program resulted in a reduction in recidivism
according to that study.  Steve Aos et.al. in the 2001 paper for the
Washington State Institute for Public Policy present a compelling chart
listing the cost benefit of various prison programs.  In-prison vocational
education is listed as the best value returning $7.13 for each dollar spent.
Thirteen offender programs are reviewed, and in-prison adult basic education
ranks fifth, saving $5.65 for each dollar spent.  Those are numbers that
State governments find persuasive.  I would also recommend the Journal of
Correctional Education and other resources of the Correctional Education
Association.  Cay

 

  _____  

From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of David Collings
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:15 AM
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 851] Re: Corrections to Community Education

 

This morning (3/17/08) the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the following
front-page story:

 

"Rising prison numbers worry Ky.
 Officials will meet today to consider solutions

 

Alarmed by Kentucky's exploding prison population -- and fast-rising costs
-- state Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown has called a meeting today of
the state Criminal Justice Council to take up the issue and find some
solutions. 

 

..."I think it is extremely urgent," said state Senate Majority leader Dan
Kelly, R-Springfield.

 

He said the state needs to find more humane ways to deal with minor
offenders who aren't dangerous and may need treatment for mental illness or
drug addiction.

 

"Fortunately, the cost is attracting some attention to the humanity," Kelly
said.

 

Kentucky's prison population is rising at the fastest rate in the nation,
according to a report last month by the Pew Center on the States, a
nonpartisan Washington research and policy group. Kentucky currently has
about 22,600 felony offenders in jail or prison, and this year's state
corrections budget is about $431 million -- compared with about 3,700
inmates in 1980 and a budget of $30 million. "

 

To our panel of guests:

 

Given this rare opportunity for change in the Kentucky penal system, what
information might I offer the Criminal Justice Council, which would bring
new light to the role of education -- especially adult education?

 

David Collings

 

 

	
  _____  


	From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen
	Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 AM
	To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
	Subject: [SpecialTopics 848] Corrections to Community Education

	Colleagues,

	 

	This week our special topic is Transition from Corrections Education
to Community Education. I would like to welcome our guests Dr. Carolyn
Buser, Steve Schwalb,  John Gordon and Dr. Stephen J. Steurer. You will find
background information on them below as well as some readings they have
suggested.

	 

	I will be posting some questions, but I hope you will also post your
questions. To begin, I would like to refer to some recent remarks by Jeremy
Travis, the President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to a
gathering of U.S. mayors in New York City on February 28th, 2008. I would
also like to invite our guests to react to these remarks and to add other
information that provides the background for this transition issue, that
helps us to understand why education, and transition from corrections
education to community education is such an important issue.

	 

	"...over the past generation we have quadrupled the per capita rate
of 

	incarceration in this country.  Every year since 1972 - in times of
war and times of peace; 

	in good economic times, in bad economic times; when crime was going
up and crime was 

	going down - we have put more people in prison.  We also tend to
forget that, with the 

	exception of those few who die in prison, they will all come back.


	 

	This year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
approximately 700,000 

	individuals will leave our nation's prisons, well over four times
the number who made a 

	similar journey thirty years ago.  Ninety percent of them are men; a
majority are men of 

	color; in every state, they typically go back to a small number of
urban neighborhoods, 

	neighborhoods that are struggling with poor schools, weak labor
markets, substandard 

	housing, and inadequate health care.  As a nation, we have in
essence asked these hard- 

	pressed communities to take on the enormous additional
responsibility of reintegrating 

	record numbers of their family members who have been sent off to
prison and return 

	home, typically with significant service needs, often without
supportive social networks."  

	( http://tinyurl.com/2glxlj )

	 

	Background on Discussion Guests

	 

	Carolyn (Cay) Buser

	Cay Buser joined the United States Department of Education in May of
2006 as an adult education program specialist with duties as the Adult
Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) liaison with correctional
education.  Dr. Buser works with the Western States to assist them in the
administration of adult education grants.  She also is the national resource
for coordination with correctional education programs and adult education
grants.

	 

	Prior to her federal appointment, Dr. Buser was director of
correctional education for the Maryland State Department of Education.  Her
responsibilities entailed management of the education and library programs
in Maryland's adult and juvenile correctional systems.  She provided direct
support to Maryland's Educational Coordinating Council for Correctional
Institutions, the "school board" for correctional education headed by the
State Superintendent of Schools with the State Secretary of Public Safety
and Correctional Services as a member.

	 

	Dr. Buser has been an active member of the Correctional Education
Association serving as a regional director and is currently on the editorial
board of the Journal of Correctional Education.  Her academic background
includes a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in
educational policy and administration.  Dr. Buser taught English in public
middle and high schools in the Midwest, and in community colleges in
Maryland.  She taught for seven years in Maryland's correctional education
program and served as a principal in three correctional settings before her
appointment as director of the State program.

	 

	Steve Schwalb

	Steve Schwalb has served as President and CEO of Pioneer Human
Services since April, 2007. Prior to that, Steve had a 33-year career in the
field of corrections.  

	 

	After receiving his B.A. degree in Business Administration from the
University of Washington, he began his corrections career as a Personnel
Management Specialist trainee with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  He
subsequently held various positions of additional responsibility, including
Personnel Director, Chief of Internal Affairs, Warden, Deputy Regional
Director and Assistant Director. 

	 

	In the latter position, Steve was responsible for nationwide
oversight of the education, vocational training, recreation, parenting,
transition preparation, citizen volunteers and industrial work programs.
Serving in the role of Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison Industries,
Inc., he oversaw over 100 factories that employ 21,000 inmates and 1,400
staff, and that generated $800 million in annual sales.

	 

	In the mid-1980's, Steve served as Associate Superintendent and
Program Manager with the Washington State Department of Corrections, and as
Director of the King County Jail in Seattle. 

	 

	During his federal career, Steve was appointed by the President to
the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled,
and served as chairman for four of his twelve years on the committee.

	 

	John Gordon

	John has worked at the Fortune Society since 2001, first as Director
of its Education program and more recently as an Associate President of
Programs. The Fortune Society works with people after they've come home from
prison or jail. Their Education program serves 200-300 students per year;
they offer classes in Adult Basic Education, ESOL, and computer skills. Many
students are on probation or parole; others are mandated by the courts to
one of Fortune's Alternatives to Incarceration programs; some are no longer
under any criminal justice supervision.

	Before coming to the Fortune Society, John worked for 16 years as
Teacher-Director of the Open Book, a community based literacy program in
Brooklyn, NY. At the Open Book, some of his central concerns revolved around
developing student leadership and student participation in program
decision-making; publishing student writing and oral histories, and welfare
and literacy issues. He published several articles on these topics as well
as More Than a Job:  A Curriculum on Work and Society (New Readers Press).
He is an active participant in the New York City Coalition for Adult
Literacy.

	The Fortune Society was founded in 1967 with two main goals: (1) to
educate the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root
causes of crime and (2) to provide support for people as they come home from
prison. Fortune serves over 3,000 former prisoners a year, offering
education, career development, counseling, substance abuse treatment,
housing, health services, and alternatives to incarceration. It continues to
play a strong role in advocating for criminal justice and prison reform.

	 

	Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D.

	Steve is the  Executive Director of the Correctional Education
Association, a professional organization of educators who work in prisons,
jails and juvenile settings.

	 

	 

	Our guests have suggested the following readings:

	 

	The Urban Institute's web site at

	http://www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm

	has a complete list of its publications, most of which are online.
Of particular interest may be those that highlight individual state reports
in the multi-state Returning Home project.

	http://tinyurl.com/2cm7jp

	These are all accessible online.

	 

	Taylor Stoehr's articles. There are a number on the Changing Lives
Through Literature web site:

	http://cltl.umassd.edu/IssuesClassroom3.cfm

	"Enforcing the Rules" is especially recommended.

	 

	The topic of prison location/release location will also be useful to
the discussion. There are several articles listed on the Urban Institute's
re-entry mapping pages, several from 2004.

	http://tinyurl.com/2687ma

	 

	These two books have a lot to offer: Joan Petersilia's "When

	Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry" Oxford University

	Press 2003, and Jeremy Travis' "But They All Come Back: Facing the

	Challenges of Prisoner Reentry" Urban Institute Press 2005.

	 

	Also, see http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181413.pdf for a paper
by Jeremy Travis on this topic.

	 

	As mentioned earlier, here's the link to the Correctional Education,
Family Literacy and Transitions discussion that were hosted here in
September 2006:

	
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Corrections_Education#2._Correctional
_Ed.2C_Family_Literacy_.26_Transition--On-Line_Discussion.2C_September_2006
or, for short,

	http://tinyurl.com/yrzwlk

	 

	David J. Rosen

	Special Topics Discussion Moderator

	djrosen at comcast.net

	 

	 

	 

	 

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