What’s New At Level
Hello friends, partners and members of the Level community! We’re proud to share ongoing updates about our progress bringing education and job training to people in prison across the country. Want to get in touch? Leave a comment, send an email or text us at (877) 285-3835.
August 2024 – Our Latest Release: How The Internet Works
People in prison across the country tell us what they need to learn about to prepare for a more successful release and life after incarceration. One of the most common requests we receive is for digital literacy content. People in prison know that internet technology is a knowledge and skill they’ll need for jobs after release. Plus, most people in prison don’t have access to the internet, so they’re ten steps behind.
To address this need, we’ve spent the last several years working on a new guide called How The Internet Works. This newest guide was adapted from a book by Charles Severance at the University of Michigan. With that text as our foundation, we updated elements to reflect emerging concepts and refined our final product to best serve an audience without access to the internet and needing to get up to speed quickly, for both personal and professional purposes.
Early distribution data
Delivered to 475 people in prison in the first few months after publication
Net Promoter Score of 82 (in the World Class range according to Qualtrics)
4.58 out of 5 rating for the question How much – or how little – did you like this guide?
4.52 out of 5 rating for the question How much – or how little – did you learn from this guide?
Feedback from people in prison about our new internet guide
This guide gave me great ideas when it comes to technology jobs. I’m passionate when it comes to computer technology. One of the first things I’m going to do when I get out of prison is use the internet, and with this knowledge and information from this guide, I’ll be able to use the web without a problem.
– Miguel, in prison in California
I have been incarcerated over 21 years. The internet and computers are only getting more advanced. This information is helping me get an understanding. I have no clue of the inner workings of the internet or how it comes together. You provided me with a lot of good information. The work you’re doing is important.
– Ronald, in prison in Illinois
The internet is an important tool and skill that will be needed once released. This guide wasn’t confusing like the other courses. I have been incarcerated for 16 years. Now, everything is done on computers. Level has always been there for me, and I’m grateful.
– Miguel, incarcerated in California
July 2024 – Survey Report: Educational Needs of Women in Prison
More than a year ago, Level initiated a survey project to learn more about the educational needs of women in prison. Supported by a grant from Tingari-Silverton Foundation, we sent 291 surveys to women in 34 states to learn more about the educational needs of women in prison today. There is very little information available about the experiences of this population, so our survey was intended to guide our program and help others serving this community. Fifty respondents told us about their access to educational and job training programs (or lack thereof) and ranked potential educational goals by their relative importance. This month, we’re proud to reveal and share the full survey report -> Educational Needs of Women in Prison.
The results reveal an appalling lack of opportunities for – and active barriers to – these women as they pursue educational and professional advancement. Equally clear from their responses is their determination in the face of adversity, and their fear that despite their best efforts, they will be unprepared to return to their communities with the tools to support themselves and their families.
We hope that this report inspires additional research and furthers our community’s awareness of the unique needs and challenges of women in prison seeking educational resources.
Report highlights
Nearly all respondents (48 out of 50) indicated that their facility had educational or job training programs, but…
– more than half said those programs were not accessible to them, and
– more than three-quarters said those programs do not meet their needs.
Additionally, more than half of respondents indicated that they use an educational program not provided by their facility.
For their top educational priority, respondents ranked “personal development and self-help” most frequently. For their second priority, respondents ranked “self-guided knowledge and skill development” most frequently. “Earning a college degree” and “specific job training” were also frequently ranked as top and secondary priorities.
Participants described a battery of obstacles preventing them from accessing educational programs provided by their facilities, from administrative exclusions (such as requirements regarding sentence length) to physical barriers (such as being housed in a different part of the facility from where classes are held).
In preparing for release, respondents expressed deep concern about obtaining and maintaining stable employment. Participants were acutely aware that without a job, their access to the basic necessities of life–housing, food, clothing and transportation–will be tenuous at best.
Why we do it
I don’t want this charge to defer my chances on a good job. My work ethic & personality speaks for itself.
– survey participant, Educational Needs Of Women In Prison
June 2024 – Our 10,000th Order!
This month, we shipped out our 10,000th delivery of education and job training content to people in prison! Observing this milestone is a great opportunity to reflect on the things that have changed since we started … and the things that have stayed the same.
What’s changed, and what’s stayed the same
Local to national
Just a few years ago, we started out serving a few facilities in Texas. Today, Level can be found in 940 state, federal, county and military prisons in 49 states! This is all due to word-of-mouth, grassroots demand among people in prison. They have transformative visions of a better future.
Distribution improvements
When we started, our co-founder and executive director, Alex, read and responded to each letter as it came in. We serve so many people now that our systems and processes have had to keep up! We’ve gone from putting individual stamps on each order to assembling bulk shipments with custom barcodes designed for bulk shipping with the USPS. As our team has grown, we’ve added more remote functionality to enable team members to work more flexibly and efficiently from Texas and Michigan.
Always a community led, individual focus
No matter how we adapt in response to growth, we never lose sight of the individual people we serve. Our 10,000th order went to “J.B.” (we’ve anonymized her name for privacy). She’s in a state facility northeast of Houston, TX. She’s been learning with us since 2022 and soon she’ll receive a certificate for completing our guide Computer Science Without A Computer as well as a copy of our newest guide How The Internet Works. She first contacted us from a county jail, and we’ve followed her as she moved to state facilities. Accompanying learners like J.B. as they pursue a better future for themselves, their families and their communities is a privilege every day.
Why we do it
I would just like to thank you all for creating these educational guides. It really means a lot to me to know that there are people out there who care about people in here like me. I really believe that the more people are able to learn and educate themselves then the world can be a safer place.
– Jessica, in prison in California
May 2024
May the Force (for positive change) be with you! We’ve had a busy month, and we’re so glad you’re here to read about it.
A day in the “mailroom”
Did you know that people in prison don’t have access to the internet, and the most efficient way to reach them at scale is through the mail? Using this system, we can reach nearly any person at any prison, even those in solitary confinement and maximum security. It takes a lot of hard work to process our incoming mail and answer the orders we receive each month from all our learners, new and returning alike. We scan all incoming mail and process it through a custom online software that is the backbone of our program’s delivery network. We put quotes around “mailroom” because really, our “mailroom” is both physical and virtual, and is spread across two states!
We review each letter and Completion Form closely to respond to learners’ questions and match them with the best available content. Because we know people in prison can be transferred frequently between facilities, we verify their location when preparing each outgoing letter to ensure orders are shipped as accurately and efficiently as possible. Everyone helps prepare the letters we send with each order, and when we meet our threshold for an outgoing shipment, it’s all hands on deck to assemble and deliver everything to USPS in bulk.
Let’s break down the details on this month’s shipment:
267 orders fulfilled (this is a fairly average shipment size; we’ve assembled shipments as large as 500 and as small as 200)
108 orders to new learners (40%)
159 orders to continuing learners (60%), including Certificates of Achievement to each person recognizing their educational journey
156 unique federal, state and county facilities served
Collaborative change
Communication is a two-way street, and we pay close attention to what our learners tell us about their needs and experiences participating in our program.
Here’s what we’ve heard:
When we ask how we can improve our guides, the response we get most often is “more!” – more in depth, more content, more detail. We already knew our learners were hungry for knowledge, but we take this request for more extensive coverage of our topics seriously.
Here’s what we’re doing:
Our newest guide, How The Internet Works, is our most in-depth guide to date. Though this may be our deepest dive to date, our goal is unchanged: the information should be accessible, engaging, and relevant to our learners. We can’t wait to get their feedback once it’s released!
Why we do it
Though I came into incarceration uneducated in the least, now I have these outstanding opportunities to lift up myself and to become proud of who I have become. Reinventing myself and discovering who I can become through education is so very vital in this period of my life.
– Anfus, in prison in Virginia
April 2024
April has been a cool, beautiful month here in Austin. We have so much we’d love to tell you about. Here’s the short version:
Level by the numbers
963 incarcerated learners served in the first three months (first quarter) of 2024
1,001 educational and job training guides sent directly to people in prison in the first three months (first quarter) of 2024
337 certificates sent to people in prison in the first three months (first quarter) of 2024
In total (all time), Level has sent 9,485 guides directly to 4,731 incarcerated learners at 929 state, county, federal and military prisons in 49 states.
Newest release
Earlier this year, we published our latest guide Computer Science Without A Computer. This guide is revolutionary in how it teaches the basics of computer science without any need for a computer or internet, appropriate for the needs of people in prison. The guide was created in collaboration with Tim Bell and the CS Unplugged team at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Our learners are loving this guide so far!
605 Computer Science Without A Computer guides sent to date to people in prison
90 Net Promoter Score for this guide to date (in the “world class” range according to Qualtrics)
4.35 out of 5 rating to date for the question “How much – or how little – did you like this guide?”
4.54 out of 5 rating to date for the question “How much – or how little – did you learn from this guide?”
I have been incarcerated for over 29 years. This computer science guide has helped me gain a better understanding to the type of world I’m about to enter. I knew nothing about computer science or technology, except for what little I have been exposed to or told about. This guide was enlightening. Thank you!
– Orlando, incarcerated in Illinois
Collaborative change
Communication is a two-way street, and we pay close attention to what our learners tell us about their needs and experiences participating in our program.
Here’s what we’ve heard:
Learners want to be able to share their progress – while they’re inside and after release – with family, friends, and also with counselors, parole boards, judges, potential employers and more.
Here’s what we’re doing:
We made it so that our learners can share access to every Certificate of Achievement they earn by a website link and a QR code. Removing barriers like this lets learners own their milestones in a meaningful way. Soon, we’re going to expand to allow even more access and ability to share educational progress.
Why we do it
I’ve tried a million things to beat my depression and emptiness in this dead world. I never thought the simple act of learning could bring a brighter mood in such a hopeless environment. When I’m learning something, I feel worth something. Thank you Level, you rock.
– Robert, in solitary confinement in Florida