Educational Needs Of Women In Prison

Level’s 2023-24 Survey and Report

Introduction

“I am eager to change and set myself up for success. I want to leave a series of legacies behind – as in my own business for my family.”

Talk to a woman in a correctional facility, and you’ll likely hear something similar to the above statement from a woman in a Texas jail. Women who are incarcerated want to improve themselves while they’re on the inside so they can have better lives when they’re released. They seek out any educational programs that may be offered by the prisons and jails they’re in, and many also seek out educational programs from organizations and institutions other than their facilities. But how well are these programs meeting the needs of the almost 200,000 women currently incarcerated in the United States?

Little data exists to answer that question despite the fact that women make up 10% of the total incarcerated population today. In 2023 and 2024 Level conducted a nationwide survey of women in correctional facilities to gather specific information about their educational goals and how the resources available to them are or are not helping them reach those goals. The surveys, which were sent to 291 women in federal, state, and county facilities across 34 states, asked women who had requested content from Level about their educational priorities, the accessibility of educational programs at their respective facilities, the programs’ usefulness, the women’s experience with educational programs outside their facilities, and their concerns as they prepare for life after release. The survey did not indicate that it was intended to focus on women or only sent to women in order to avoid influencing responses.

What the responses of the 50 women who returned surveys reveal is their consistent determination and commitment to self-improvement and professional development. All of the respondents indicated that they were either taking part in some sort of educational program or were interested in doing so but were prevented for some reason related to their incarceration. Some even reported taking courses that they weren’t personally interested in just so they could be engaged in an educational pursuit and help with their lives in prison and after release.

What was equally clear from the survey responses – and just as consistent – was that the correctional facilities were failing these women on every level. More than half of the respondents said they had no access to the educational programs at their facilities. More than three-quarters reported that the programming that was offered did not meet their needs, most often because the material wasn’t relevant to their professional goals and also because the quality of the material was too low to be useful.

The women who took part in the surveys expressed serious concerns about the challenges awaiting them after their release from prison. The most common concerns involved employment, which would affect their lives in multiple ways, from keeping a roof over their head to providing for their family, from staying on stable footing financially to being able to retire comfortably. Many worried about how having a criminal record would affect their ability to find work. Others worried about the changes they’d face, from new technology to communities filled with strangers. Some wanted not just a job that provided them with a paycheck but a career that added meaning to their life, perhaps even a business of their own that could be grown and provide a legacy for their loved ones.

These women recognize how high the stakes are for them when their sentences are up, and for half of them that time will come within five years. They’re keenly aware that education is critical to them finding success in the outside world, but they need that education while they’re still incarcerated. Right now the facilities incarcerating them aren’t providing programming that meets their needs. This survey speaks directly to what women in correctional facilities need and what barriers there are keeping them from achieving their educational goals. As one respondent in Oklahoma wrote, “I’d like there to be better resources to really be rehabilitated. Classes, programs, anything to better improve ourselves.”

Survey

Outgoing statistics

Total surveys sent: 291

• Women in federal prisons: 35 (12%)
• Women in state prisons: 238 (82%)
• Women in county jails: 18 (6%)

Surveys sent to women incarcerated in the following 34 states:

Methodology

Women who were sent this survey were selected among people who had recently participated in Level’s prison education and job training program. Recipients were selected based on recent participation, geographic distribution and distribution among state, federal and county facilities. In order to avoid influencing responses, the survey did not indicate that it was intended to focus on women or only sent to women. Survey participants were informed that their participation was optional, voluntary and in no way required to continue receiving services from Level. Survey participants were informed that no personal information would be revealed. All responses were transcribed and analyzed fully anonymized from the identity of the respondent.

Yes / No questions

• Does your facility have educational or job training programs?
• If you answered “yes” to the first question, are these programs accessible to you?
• If you answered “yes” to the first question, do they meet your needs?
• Do you use any educational programs other than those provided by your facility? For example, a correspondence program, something you’re able to access on a computer or tablet or an in-person program put on by an outside group.

Ranked choice and short answer questions

• Please rank the items below from 1 to 5 in order of their importance to you, with 1 being the most important and 5 being the least important.
  • Earning a college degree while incarcerated
  • Specific job training with industry credentials
  • General job training and career exploration
  • Personal development and self-help
  • Self-guided general knowledge and skill development
• Please tell us about your ability (or inability) to access these programs. [the educational programs at your facility]
• Why do you feel that way? [that these programs do or don’t meet your needs]
• [If you use educational programs not provided by your facility], please tell us about them.
• What is your biggest concern as you prepare for release?
• Anything else you’d like to tell us?

Additional informational questions

• What is the highest level of education you’ve attained?
• If you marked “Technical school” for the previous question, what did you go to technical school for?
• Length of total sentence / months remaining?
• Demographic questionnaire
  • Date of birth
  • Race / ethnicity
  • Gender

Results

We received 50 total responses, but not all participants answered every question. Our analysis reflects the response rate for a given question and notes the total responses received for each question throughout.

Responses: facility type and sentence length

More than three-quarters of the surveys we received were returned by women in state facilities, commensurate with the high proportion of surveys sent to that facility type as well as the high percentage of the general incarcerated population being housed in state facilities.

Out of 50 respondents, 45 reported their sentence length. Including the shortest sentence reported, 13 months, and the longest, 1,200 months (100 years), the average sentence length is 217 months (18 years). Removing the six outliers (three respondents with sentences shorter than two years and three respondents with sentences longer than 40 years), the average sentence length is 166 months (14 years). However, as the table below shows, the average is skewed disproportionately higher by the relatively small number of sentences of 30 years or more (7 out of 39). Looking at the median shows more than half of the survey participants reporting sentence lengths of 10 years or less, with the highest proportion of the respondents (19) with sentences between 36 and 120 months (3 and 10 years).

The large number of respondents with sentences above the 10-year median (18) may reflect the trend toward longer sentences in the United States in the 21st century. A Prison Policy Initiative study noted that the number of people serving sentences longer than 10 years nearly tripled between 1999 and 2018. A 2021 report from the United States Sentencing Commission stated that more than half of offenders in federal prisons were serving sentences of 10 years or longer, with 18% serving sentences of 20 years to life. And a Council on Criminal Justice study stated that in 2023 almost two-thirds (63%) of state prisoners were serving sentences of 10 years or more – up from 46% in 2005.

Responses: Yes / No questions

Nearly all respondents (48 out of 50) indicated that their facility had educational or job training programs, but more than half (26 of 49) said those programs were not accessible to them and more than three-quarters (34 of 44) said those programs do not meet their needs. Additionally, more than half of all respondents (27) indicated that they use an educational program not provided by their facility.

Responses: priority rankings

We identified five potential educational priorities and asked survey participants to rank them in order of their personal importance:

• Earning a college degree (coded in blue)
• Specific job training with industry credentials (yellow)
• General job training and career exploration (gray)
• Self-guided general knowledge and skill development (pink)
• Personal development and self-help (green)

Due to some ambiguity in the instructions, 12 respondents either neglected to answer this question or ranked more than one priority at the same level. For consistency, those responses were not recorded, leaving 38 responses in our analysis.

The results show that “Personal development and self-help” was ranked as first priority by the most respondents (15), followed by “Earning a college degree” (11) and “Specific job training…” (10). For the second priority, “Self-guided general knowledge and skill development” was chosen by the most respondents (12), followed by “Personal development and self-help” (9) and “Earning a college degree” and “Specific job training…” in a tie (7). 

This means that a significant majority of our survey participants (24) consider “Personal development and self-help” a top or near-top educational priority. Interestingly, while none of the participants ranked “Self-guided general knowledge and skill development” as their first priority, a notable number chose it as their second priority.

Responses: open-ended questions

Accessibility

Our first short-answer question asked participants about the accessibility of educational programs at their facilities. Four major themes emerged from the responses: a lack of capacity in current programs, restrictions based on the duration of or length of time remaining on a person’s sentence, physical barriers (e.g., programs being held in a unit inaccessible to the learner or the learner being held in solitary confinement), and other administrative obstacles.

Out of 47 responses to this question, ten mentioned issues with program capacity or wait lists. “There are 1500 women here and room for approx. 15 in each class,” one response read. In another, the survey participant said she “[has] been on the waiting lists for almost a year now.”

Fourteen respondents indicated that they have either too much or not enough time left in their sentence. “[You] must be 18 months within your release to take [most rehabilitative programs],” one learner wrote, while another said that “[you] only get into the vocational training if […] your sentence is 10 years or more.”

Five participants shared that they are physically unable to access available programming based on where they’re being held. “I’m in solitary confinement, so I can’t go to the school building,” one wrote. “Before we did not have access to classes because general population basically got all the classes and protective custody (which I am in) never got classes. Till a few months ago,” another reported. One response speaks to this common experience: “There is classes available but not the same classes are available for everyone. I want to take some of the classes that are available at a different area of the jail and have no access to.”

Utility to learners

Our second short-answer question asked participants to explain why the programs available at their facility do or don’t meet their needs. We received 41 answers and several themes emerged from them: a lack of relevance or diversity of subjects to fit the learners’ interests or goals, problems with accessibility, low quality of the programming itself, and administrative or process-related failures.

Twelve learners noted a lack of content relevant to their interests. “Our only vocational program is cosmetology,” wrote one. “I have no interest in that and I have my diploma so I’m out of luck.” Several others made it clear that they take advantage of whatever content is available to them, even though it may not further their specific goals. “We only got offered ‘Intercultural Communications or Sociology.’ I am taking both. They are helpful but those are the only options,” one learner explained. Another said, “I took [those courses] just to help get out of prison, I didn’t use those because I need things that will help me over a long period of time, like owning my own business.”

Accessibility issues came up again in 12 of these responses. Participants emphasized that staff shortages and limited capacity caused substantial delays and long wait lists for educational programming, and reiterated that their custody level and sentence length affected their ability to access them. According to one learner, “[At] this facility if you are 90 days or less you aren’t eligible for any class, job or program. This facility is so extremely short staffed that it literally can take months to even get enrolled in anything. It’s very frustrating because most of the time we can’t even get a response from anyone.” Another learner described how easily access can be revoked: “If you’re not disciplinary free for a year you don’t qualify for any job training programs, if you are in a job training program and receive any disciplinary reports you’re automatically dropped from the job training.”

Four learners commented on the low quality of the available programming, describing it as a “waste of time” and “so simple and ‘dumbed’ down that it’s just offered to ‘check a box’.” “They basically print out different topics of discussion and then we read the paper in class,” said one respondent. “Most of the teachers don’t really teach the class,” wrote another, adding, “It is hard to consistently go because they cancel a lot.” Three respondents also identified administrative failures that impacted their progress, such as a lack of bilingual programming or follow through on testing.

External programs

We asked survey participants whether they use any other educational programs not provided by their facility and, if so, to tell us about them. Thirty-five respondents indicated that they were using or had attempted to use other programs.

While six respondents mentioned that they used a tablet for learning, a majority (20) indicated that they were using or seeking paper-based correspondence courses and/or that they had no access to technology such as a tablet or computer (and if they did, there was no educational content available via that platform). Bible study or religious programming was cited most often as alternative content used by learners (mentioned in eight responses). 

Frustration with administrative barriers came up in answers to this question as well, particularly regarding mailing restrictions. “I am getting problems because mail room still returning mail from other places that I mail asking for paper courses. They send everything back because they ‘have color on it’ or petty things like that,” one survey participant wrote. Another addressed the difficulties of balancing work opportunities with educational goals: “Since becoming a night time sanitation trustee I cut my tablet use in half because I work 7pm-7am (tablets are only on from 7am-10:30pm) I sleep all day. I wrote a ‘free books for inmates’ asking for a GED prep test book so I can study at night during my down time. So I got mine in the mail but it’s still difficult […].”

Three learners did mention accessing college courses that would lead to a certificate or degree, though one noted that in her facility “it takes 8-10 years to earn a degree, maybe 12 years.”

Preparing for release

The above illustration is a word cloud that highlights the most commonly used words when survey respondents were asked about their biggest concern as they prepare for release. The majority of responses expressed concerns about finding a job as well as doubts about their employment prospects. Many were anxious about achieving financial stability, particularly as it pertained to housing, as well as acquiring the skills and comfort with technology that employers are likely to expect. Some would be facing the trial of staying sober and wondered whether they could reconnect with family or regain custody of their children. Others emphasized their desire for meaningful careers and personal development, and to help others in their community who might have similar struggles. 

“Having been incarcerated as a young adult, and doing the amount of time I have done, I have had little opportunity to prepare for retirement financially. I will end up facing two negatives; a felony record and old age, when I apply for jobs.”

“[My biggest concern is] that I won’t have a career. Not a job but a career.”

“I’m afraid because everything is going to be different. I don’t know anyone out there. It’s not the same as when I left. I will have a hard time adapting after being gone so long.”

“[My biggest concern is] being more successful and influential than what I was before incarceration. How will I stand up to the pressure?”

“Society didn’t like me before, and there is less to like now. Before I had a job, a car and a home and kids that I put everything I had into. Now all that is gone. I’m starting over. Only this time there is no grandparents to gift me a start at life.”

Anything else you’d like to tell us?

We concluded our survey with an opportunity for respondents to express anything they’d like to share. Here are a few answers we received, and the rest are in the appendix:

“I am eager to change and set myself up for success. I want to leave a series of legacies behind–as in my own business for my family.”

“We are not being corrected in here, or taught anything to help us. We are being over punished. I grew up in abandoned houses and dope houses when I wasn’t locked up. I don’t know what “normal” is?!”

“I don’t want this charge to defer my chances on a good job. My work ethic & personality speaks for itself.”

“I’d like there to be better resources to really be rehabilitated. Classes, programs, anything to better improve ourselves.”

Recommendations

Based on the quantitative and qualitative responses, we see consistent patterns emerge that should be addressed by any organizations (including Level) that are concerned with the educational needs of women in prison. First, don’t assume that because programming exists at a facility, it is widely available. Throughout the responses to this survey, we see widespread reports of lack of access for a majority of women in prison. Access is blocked at many stages, including deciding who can attend in person programs, what content can be shipped from remote publishers and how and whether digital access is granted. There should be layers of different resources available from different programs, all of which must focus on making their educational and job training offerings available as widely as possible. Second, understand that women in prison, just like women on the outside, have wide ranging interests in their educational progress. While most report interests related to upskilling for better employment, there are broader needs for programs related to mental health, self development and general knowledge exploration. Third, the interest in education for women in prison is intense and broad. No one solution by one provider will meet the need, and the sheer number of women in prison across the country necessitates a widespread, large approach to provide meaningful, transformative services.

Conclusion

Women in prison who seek to improve themselves personally, obtain a college degree or other educational certification, or acquire job skills and business knowledge that will increase their prospects for employment after release are frustrated – and justifiably so. Their efforts to obtain educational resources and job training are consistently stymied by correctional facilities that don’t provide the kind of programming these women want or need, that don’t grant them adequate access to the programming they do offer, and that create barriers to internal and external resources through administrative restrictions and limits on class participation. Not only is the system failing these women, but they can see how it’s failing them.

Despite their frustration, however, incarcerated women are persevering in their search for education. More than half of the participants in Level’s survey reported using or trying to use educational programs outside their facility, and they strongly expressed their desire for more and better resources – “Classes, programs, anything to better improve ourselves,” in the words of one respondent. But most can’t afford to wait. For the significant proportion of women whose sentences are shorter than 10 years, being forced to stand by for months and even years to get into vocational classes or meet eligibility requirements for educational programs becomes a matter of true urgency. They’re racing the clock for the assistance they need to prepare for life after release.

We wish to thank and recognize the Tingari-Silverton Foundation for providing the funding support for this survey and for recognizing the importance of learning more about the educational needs of women in prison.

Appendix

Written Answers

Short Answer 1: Please tell us about your ability (or inability) to access these programs.

Key:
length of sentences – 14 
administrative barriers – 12
wait lists/lack of capacity – 10 
physical barriers (custody level, different unit or solitary confinement) – 7

1. Because I have 35 non ag sentence and I want a GED to further my education.
2. Accessible to some limited only – selected few – not me. Just got Goodwill Workshop career tech + college. I completed college. But when Goodwill was offered for 970 women, only 30 every 3 months make the list * not me*
3. This is a working (labor crew) compound so it can be difficult to balance work & education.
4. Our facility will not allow a person to complete more than one vocational program.
5. I have too much time to be eligible for many of the programs yet have also done too much time so have completed the ones I am eligible for.
6. High school GED or Diploma and cosmetology. Some college but never full qualifying courses to obtain an associate degree.
7. Preference goes to people who don’t have long sentences and those who are First Step Act (FSA) Eligible. If you are not FSA Eligible, you don’t even get put on the waitlist.
8. Solitary confinement
9. There is classes available but not the same classes are available for everyone. I want to take some of the classes that are available at a different area of the jail and have no access to.
10. Several classes & programs are available by a person’s sentencing time, meaning you’re only eligible for certain ones if you have 6 months or longer or 2 years and longer etc.
11. I’m 61 and they say I’m not a priority.
12. I’m in GED now & in a rehabilitation program now as soon as I’m done I will put in to go to them.
13. It is just a lot to get into classes. So many inmates, not enough teachers. “Wait List”
14. I am in seg. and level 4 so I am not allowed to go to these programs/classes.
15. Most rehabilitative programs you must be 18 months within your release to take these programs.
16. We can get referred to the programs which is essentially a waiting list so the further away your outdate the longer you wait to get into the program.
17. I need only to get enrolled in the class.
18. They have CSN you’re able to do as long as HS or GED is completed.
19. You only get into the vocational training if you “know someone” who really wants you; or your sentence is 10 years or more.
20. Yes, they’re accessible but they pick and choose who goes into these programs.
21. Age, release date not close enough, disabilities, physical and mental health issues, other excuses.
22. There are 1500 women here and room for approx. 15 in each class.
23. Education is but job training programs aren’t because at the facility I’m at we are required to be low on our days before release to be able to attend them.
24. There aren’t any of these programs here to help anyone. We’re in need of these programs.
25. Just a few educational and NO job training. This is a male building. I am in a women’s unit and we have not many programs for us. Job training is just for sentence males.
26. Not all [are accessible]. Some are on different units and there’s a time window from 2-5 years. It all depends on how much time you’re doing. Since I have a 5 year sentence I do not have access to certain programs, only the ones on my unit.
27. There are very limited programs & it’s very difficult to get into the few programs this facility offers.
28. Thinking for a change, victims impact, parenting, career management, anger management, house of healing, dream initiative, ACOA, cognitive behavior, TRICOR, GED, group therapy
29. Always a waiting list
30. I am a Spanish speaker and have a 20 year sentence which makes me unable to take the programs available at my unit. And also not a citizen of U.S. I am not priority to my unit to take certain programs.
31. They are closing a lot of the programs here.
32. There are long waiting lists for programs.
33. G.E.D. education only, on the job training in certain areas, spiritual classes. I would like to be able to do college prep through GED but most of us that are older are not allowed.
34. You must first meet the program requirements such as days, level, and type of charge. Then you must be on the “in” crowd or wait on a list for enrollment. I’ve applied multiple times and have waited for two years. Some cost money.
35. These programs admit people based on our outdates. New people are added to the waiting lists daily & anyone with a shorter outdate gets put in front of me. I have been on the waiting lists for almost a year now.
36. I am about to be released. Therefore cannot do classes or anything.
37. They have cosmetology & horticulture neither of which I’m interested in taking. They offer some college courses I think an Associate in General Studies & Bachelor’s in Business Admin & something else.
38. They have prep test courses on the tablets but with a 2 to every 8 ratio there is limited access due to inmates who spend money watching movies and playing games vs. free education. It’s hard to get in a tank with considerate inmates and this facility no longer offers the actual GED test or physical classroom for it.
39. It’s a waiting game. I have to wait until I’m on the list.
40. No. I was in the New Light program instead. And I didn’t have a long enough sentence for cosmetology (CSN) classes. And when I inquired about the WOW Program (job training for women) they – the prison – “didn’t know about it.”
41. They don’t offer very many vocations here. Most classes they offer you have to be in the high school program and not everyone qualifies for that. This unit also doesn’t offer very many jobs so in order to get on the job training is hard.
42. These programs are only available to inmates with no disciplinary history for a year or longer.
43. I’m waiting for my transcripts to be sent.
44. I’m in solitary confinement, so I can’t go to the school building.
45. These college classes just became available. Before we did not have access to classes because general population basically got all the classes and protective custody (which I am in) never got classes. Till a few months ago.
46. I have taken the ones they had available but they aren’t the ones I need to own my own business.
47. My custody level prevents me from accessing these programs.

Short Answer 2: Why do you feel that way? [that these programs do or don’t meet your needs]

Key:
lack of relevance/diversity of subjects to fit interests – 12
accessibility issues – 12
low quality – 4
administrative failures – 3
personal barriers – 2

1. Because I’m not a priority because of my number of years. I want a GED.
2. Its not fair to those who served long sentences and need help with transition and jobs. Everyone has specific needs – everything is generalized overall.
3. There needs to be way more educational AND job training programs.
4. I completed a computer related technology course and due to outside circumstances, I was never able to take the IC3 certification test which the CRT program prepares you for.
5. The programs I have been able to participate in are not in my area of interest.
6. (circled “yes” and “no” above and wrote “Both”) Our only vocational program is cosmetology. I have no interest in that and I have my diploma so I’m out of luck but I appreciate the accessibility.
7. Most of the teachers don’t really teach the class. It is hard to consistently go because they cancel a lot. 
8. They basically print out different topics of discussion and then we read the paper in class.
9. (circled both above and wrote “Yes & No”) #1 at this facility if you are 90 days or less you aren’t eligible for any class, job or program. This facility is so extremely short staffed that it literally can take months to even get enrolled in anything. It’s very frustrating because most of the time we can’t even get a response from anyone.
10. I’m supposed to do a vocational but they don’t let me, when I try.
11. So far yes. I’ve seen that other people are learning in them.
12. Sometimes if they can.
13. I’m just rotting away in here, I can’t even do to behavior management groups or hardly individual therapy.
14. Because they did enroll me in the right class.
15. I’m interested in business. They offer event planning.
16. The classes are so simple and “dumbed” down that it’s just offered to “check a box” and they don’t care if it really teaches you anything.
17. Because, they pick and choose and it always varies on your sentence.
18. Because the peer pressure otherwise criteria and lack of availability including my own mental health issues have prevented me time after time from completing any of them except Bridges to Life and so I have also repeatedly failed even to try again.
19. N/A
20. I have been here a year and have not gotten a response nor an answer.
21. Because what I want to go further in they do not have here. I wanted to further my education for Sign Language (ASL) and Spanish.
22. We need more job training so we go back to the community more prepared to succeed and not to fail again.
23. Of course the academic programs help a lot because that’s how we’re able to sustain a steady job, but the vocational classes are a waste of time, you will NOT be certified upon completion.
24. There is a shortage in staff which causes multiple issues & too many inmates, as well as not many programs available.
25. They benefit me and also meet parole recommendations, but need more classes because I’ve finished all classes.
26. Because we are limited to what we can take and do not provide enough Bilingual classes/programs over than an ESL class. Nothing else.
27. Cause some are college credits.
28. I believe we should be able to sharpen our minds, my math and language are very low.
29. There is the option of pursuing associates degree; there are job training opportunities; there is work release.
30. Because there is also not a whole lot of options.
31. I plan on pursuing a degree in Fine Arts.
32. Because no matter how many courses you complete they don’t carry to your next place (TDC/state jail facility) also you will have to wait to take the test upon release to an actual testing site whenever that will be.
33. I’m waiting to take a class or classes.
34. I found other programs. The Hope for Prisoners and Fit (available upon release).
35. B/c I don’t qualify for the high school program because I have a GED.
36. If you’re not disciplinary free for a year you don’t qualify for any job training programs, if you are in a job training program and receive any disciplinary reports you’re automatically dropped from the job training.
37. It’s not easy to get docs needed to start school. I’ve been doing this process for over 1 yr.
38. They’re only for the custody levels that get to walk around.
39. It’s in between. We only got offered “Intercultural Communications or Sociology.” I am taking both. They are helpful but those are the only options, there is no way to even try to get a degree while in here.
40. Because I took those just to help get out of prison, I didn’t use those because I need things that will help me over a long period of time, like owning my own business.
41. I can’t attend while in medium custody.

Short Answer 3: [If you use educational programs not provided by your facility], please tell us about them.

All respondents of this survey have participated in Level’s prison education and job training program.

Key:
use of paper-based programs/lack of access to tech – 20
access to tech – 6
administrative barriers – 8
religious programs – 8
college programs – 3

1. I don’t know any to ask for help through mail if you have some will you please send them my way, thanks.
2. I paid for Blackstone Paralegal and did Level.
3. I would like to but I am currently trying to get previous student loan out of default so I can be eligible for a new financial aid loan/grant.
4. I use: PREP, Criminon, Creative Options
5. Rhodes College provides a certificate in Culture & Values and once completed works to provide mentoring in a field of interest. They are presently providing a writing mentor for me and one other graduate. Professor Stephen Haynes is awesome.
6. No computer access and we are not a prison education approved institute.
7. I do paper-based correspondence with Upper Iowa University to earn my Bachelor’s degree. It is great other than my facility is not set up to earn FAFSA even though it got approved in 2020.
8. I write to correspondence classes. Recently, began the classes available through the GTL tablet.
9. (circled both above and wrote “Yes & No”) This facility does not allow inmates to use a computer for anything at all. There are some outside educational services used by mail but they have to be approved through the facility. The only things we can access on our tablets for education are Hope University, Edovo & Honest Jobs.
10. Not yet I’m in GED & a trauma program. There are waiting lists.
11. Bible schools, colleges, etc.
12. Just this one pretty much. I do writing projects with other correspondence programs like this, other than that that’s it, oh, and religious.
13. I got written correspondence and needed material through two places by paying a monthly payment that I got to choose. When completed my certification and transcripts were mailed to me.
14. I use paper based programs. We have no access to computers or tablets. In person program outside of education is not available.
15. Paralegal studies year #1–Blackstone Institute and American Christian Academy for Bible study courses.
16. I want to, just started one on tablet. Amazing facts, bible study. I had already started in 2018 and half completed due to problem at unit.
17. Stratford Career Inst provides correspondence programs.
18. N/A
19. Bible studies on the outside and you guys only. With my Bible studies, I do them by hand and read the Bible also. We don’t have access to a computer.
20. I am getting problems because mail room still returning mail from other places that I mail asking for paper courses. They send everything back because they “have color on it” or petty things like that. I am very happy that they let this course in!!! <3
21. I use the KA Lite on my tablet to pass my Social Studies GED test. I’ve got my certification in the Hustle 2.0 book. I also do Bible studies from different organizations.
22. No programs are available on the tablets at this facility, nor on any computers that inmates have access to, nothing from an outside group & the mailing restrictions are EXTREMELY strict at this facility.
23. Parenting, ACOA
24. Goucher College but it takes 8-10 years to earn a degree, maybe 12 years.
25. Criminon – self help, PREP – self help, Insights Foundation – self help
26. Connors State College — associates degree @ the prison ground.
27. Stratford Career Institute — construction management — mail correspondence
28. Our tablets don’t allow us access to stuff like that.
29. Since becoming a night time sanitation trustee I cut my tablet use in half because I work 7pm-7am (tablets are only on from 7am-10:30pm) I sleep all day. I wrote a “free books for inmates” asking for a GED prep test book so I can study at night during my down time. So I got mine in the mail but it’s still difficult enough to discourage me from pursuing my certificate because I have no help when I am confused. 🙁
30. Bible correspondence to keep me educated.
31. Level
32. Right now just y’all’s. I’ve signed up for the peer education they offer but am on a waiting list.
33. The facility does not provide programs as far as educational or job training I am waiting for a correspondence course after they receive my transcript.
34. Religious materials as Bible studies, but Level was the first to give me free material & information I needed.
35. Khan Academy on my tablet where I’ve learned basic math skills.

Short Answer 4: What is your biggest concern as you prepare for release?

1. Getting my GED and going to college to get by LCDC to help others with addictions.
2. Adjusting to the changing world and finding a job having my crime.
3. Starting over all by myself, as I have minimal family connections.
4. Getting employed after so many years of not being in the job market; housing; navigating life.
5. Having been incarcerated as a young adult, and doing the amount of time I have done, I have had little opportunity to prepare for retirement financially. I will end up facing two negatives; a felony record and old age, when I apply for jobs.
6. Being able to get a job as a felon. Leaving with no actual rehabilitation.
7. Getting a good job and having proper training. Also, technology since it will be so different how to use it.
8. Health needs
9. Finding a job and being able to afford/find housing.
10. Personal growth & development as well as general knowledge/job training/skill development to prepare myself for starting work again.
11. A job
12. Job training/life skills, accomplishing these programs for self-help, college, basic computer skills…
13. Jobs
14. I’m afraid because everything is going to be different. I don’t know anyone out there. It’s not the same as when I left. I will have a hard time adapting after being gone so long.
15. Not having enough skills to obtain and keep a job. Not being prepared for the new changes in technology.
16. Finding a job and housing
17. To get some diploma.
18. Work. Stability.
19. Getting my resume typed up. Being less anxious and being positive.
20. My education and job training. Also re-entry.
21. Money. Where to go, who is left out there. My family–will they accept me now in my disability–mental, physical, emotional
22. Staying away from old habits (people, places & things)
23. Having a good place to go to & being able to get a job.
24. Housing, job training, finishing high school
25. Job, home, being able to move to my dad’s in Oklahoma
26. That I have no knowledge further than my GED that I obtained here and English is not my first language, I learn by myself.
27. Obtaining a roof over my head and being able to pay the bills on time (not living w/no one)
28. The changes in the world & adapting to all the changes as well as employment, housing, transportation, support in sobriety & in family.
29. To be prepared to work, be stable, get my daughter back to my custody. To understand resources also.
30. Getting a good paying job.
31. Having a plan
32. The limitation of employment due to lack of vocational trades that is more expanded, and the inability to take certain vocations like cosmetology based on my charge.
33. Financial/housing
34. Learning new technology after 20+ years incarcerated.
35. Not having the skills I feel I need upon release, my math & language.
36. Society didn’t like me before, and there is less to like now. Before I had a job, a car and a home and kids that I put everything I had into. Now all that is gone. I’m starting over. Only this time there is no grandparents to gift me a start at life.
37. Housing & school/job
38. Getting a job, having clothes, finding support groups.
39. At this moment housing then getting back into school.
40. That I won’t have a career. Not a job but a career.
41. Finding a decent job w/benefits. Somewhere to live. My record being exposed due to the charge I have.
42. Being more successful and influential than what I was before incarceration. How will I stand up to the pressure?
43. Having things I need, clothes, food & transportation
44. Picking up a job skill/credentials before my release.
45. Getting my company reopened.
46. Job training and criminal background
47. Not being able to get a job because of my record. Not being able to support myself & my children.
48. Getting my mental right.
49. Getting help with an investment.
50. Job opportunities being available to an ex-felon.

Short Answer 5: Anything else you’d like to tell us?

1. I would like to find a place through the mail that will help me succeed getting my GED or high school diploma so I can further my education while in prison.
2. I wish more resources were available to those with long sentences to adjust to the world’s changing status (ex: Covid, war, RSV, violence)
3. While the Pell Grant PEP is nice, our institution stops at an associate’s level. I would have loved to work toward a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. A writing class would also be great.
4. I appreciate your course variety but I would like more business education or possible CDL info. Felon friendly jobs.
5. Tablet educational/podcasts are not available for restricted housing–solitary confinement people
6. I’d love access to any of the available courses and guides via mail or elsewhere.
7. I would really like any kind of resources/guides you may offer. Especially for personal growth/development/self help & starting your own business.
8. Would like to do culinary arts and floral design
9. I am eager to change and set myself up for success. I want to leave a series of legacies behind–as in my own business for my family.
10. We are not being corrected in here, or taught anything to help us. We are being over punished. I grew up in abandoned houses and dope houses when I wasn’t locked up. I don’t know what “normal” is?!
11. How can you help me?
12. I’d like there to be better resources to really be rehabilitated. Classes, programs, anything to better improve ourselves.
13. I would like to further my education and if you guys have any resource that can help me I would like to receive it. My area upon release would be Sanford, Fla 32771.
14. “I need help. You can email me when you go to Securus. I have the tablet. When you show up on my contact list I can email you and you me. You will have to find that out, I don’t know how to do it.”
15. There are a lot of women who would like to do something with their time that have more time than I, I have talked to
16. Thank you very much! <3 I feel like somebody is finally listening to me.
17. I think a lot of these vocational programs should allow students to be certified upon completion because we have the on the job training, skills, hours, and of course it’s hands on.
18. Thank you for the concern in this area.
19. Please make more packets available <3
20. Certifications you provide are greatly appreciated.
21. I am interested in teaching a class for recovery
22. Even though there are different vocations at different units we are not able to easily be transferred to another unit for that vocational class. I would like to see more opportunities for our Hispanic culture & resources. I would like the opportunity to get my GED and be able to take college courses and Bilingual classes that are going to help me to rehabilitate myself & others upon release even if I have to be deported to another country.
23. Politics consists of $$, drugs, weapons, and porn.
24. I hope to have gained more knowledge on start-up businesses before I parole out so maybe no GED will hinder my career search.
25. I don’t want this charge to defer my chances on a good job. My work ethic & personality speaks for itself.
26. Thank you.
27. You have a wonderful program. Thank you for allowing us, incarcerated, to participate.