Behind the bars
Utah Prison and Jail inmates are given the chance to rehabilitate themselves and better their education through Utah State University’s Extension and Continuing Education department.
Vince Lafferty, director of Distance Education, first started a distance learning program for inmates in 1985 when the Utah prison and jail systems approached him with the idea. Now an estimated 150 full-time and part-time inmates are continuing their education every semester.
“I felt there was a big need. We could have a tremendous impact not only on the inmates but society as a whole,” Lafferty said.
USU offers only specific degrees through this program such as a bachelor’s in business administration, a minor in business information systems or accounting and a bachelor’s in psychology for inmates who plan on attending graduate school.
Lafferty said these degrees offer inmates more marketable skills in today’s economy than other degrees offered on campus might.
Some community schools in Utah also offer this program to prison and jail systems. Salt Lake Community College offers vocational training, and Snow College offers general education classes. USU is the only school which offers this program through satellite. This makes more classes and degrees available to inmates, Lafferty said.
The inmates come from specific prison and jail facilities in Utah. The participating facilities include Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, main prison in Draper and jails in Cedar City and Monticello.
Each semester, an estimated three to six inmates graduate with a degree. The inmates who obtain a degree have been successful in earning more than $30,000 at their new jobs after serving time in jails, prisons, Lafferty said.
Besides arming these inmates with education and skills, this program has saved the state of Utah valuable funds, Lafferty said. After going over some figures a couple of years ago, he found the program has saved Utah more than $1.3 million.
This money is saved by keeping down the rate of recidivism, or the rate of inmates returning to jail after parole. The rate in Utah fluctuates between 65 and 80 percent. Lafferty said Utah pays $25,000 a year to house each inmate. When inmates take courses or obtain a degree from USU, the rate of recidivism becomes less than 1 percent. Lowering this rate is the base of the whole program, Lafferty said.
Along with reducing the criminal return rate in Utah and providing education, the distance learning program offers career counseling, help with basic life skills and works with the inmates to help create a healthy, balanced lifestyle for each person, Lafferty said.
The program contributes largely to society. When prisoners are released on parole after taking the program, they “are not committing new crimes [and] now have a marketable skill” to contribute to the economy, Lafferty said.
Inmates are able to participate in this program after receiving a high school diploma. All the facilities involved have a public school within their walls to offer the opportunity to receive a high school diploma. Once this is completed along with other requirements, they may take college courses, Lafferty said.
He also said since the ACT cannot be administered to the inmates, a different test was developed similar to the ACT and is used by school districts for student placement.
Another requirement for inmates includes a level three assessment by the prison or jail. Lafferty said level three means they are eligible for parole and have good behavior. There are five different levels an inmate can attain. Level two would mean the inmate is violent and has no desire to better their situation.
Lafferty said this assessment is very important because the inmates are required to pay a considerable amount for the classes offered. The fee per semester is $100. This may seem like a trivial amount for other citizens, but prisoners only make 30 cents an hour working one job. This means in a 40-hour work week, they make a total of $12.
“They have to be pretty dedicated students,” Lafferty said.
Prisoners used to not have to pay tuition. The program was first funded by the Pell Grant, but 10 years ago the grant was done away with. Though the program lost funding, when inmates had to start paying “it got rid of the slackers,” Lafferty said. The rest of the costs for classes are underwritten by the state.
Funding is still a challenge though, Lafferty said. There are more inmates who want to utilized this program than there is enough funding for.
“We are not tapping near the potential we could,” he said.
Lafferty said inmates are realizing the opportunities for education they have missed and now see the need for a marketable skill.