Education Behind Bars: Article Four: ​The Many Costs of Incarceration

Definitions of rehabilitation are many, and all of them include some sort of training, intervention, or practice that restores an individual’s health, functioning, lost skills, or well-being. Rehabilitation assumes that prior to some event or activity, an individual was healthy, functioned effectively and/or was relatively happy. Agencies in the U.S. rehabilitate individuals after devastating injury, disease, or addiction to restore lost skills and abilities.


But what if an individual never developed essential life skills; never experienced a safe environment; never received adequate medical care; suffered from abuse and/or neglect? Is rehabilitation even possible?
 
This is an important question because most of the people incarcerated in US prisons have one or more of the following factors:

• Deficiency in language skills, including illiteracy or low reading ability.6
• Language other than English.
• Learning challenges or incomplete education.
• Childhood marked by abuse, neglect, stress, and/or poverty.
• Dependence upon alcohol or drugs.
• Environment conducive to crime.

While all these factors can be mitigated by education at some stage of an individual’s life, the likelihood diminishes with each passing year. Research shows that the first five years of a person’s life are critical, but early intervention can mend damage done during those important formative years. Later intervention is much more problematic, but human beings are highly adaptable, and nature has designed us to overcome many of the obstacles we face. This is where abilitation comes in. This is an archaic word that means “To enable; to endow with ability or capacity; to make fit.”6


In California, our justice system includes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. This department oversees the incarceration, parole, and probation of people who have been found guilty of certain serious crimes. Incarceration is a form of punishment (correction) by denying lawbreakers their freedom and autonomy, and it is a form of security for the public by removing lawbreakers from society for some amount of time. Incarceration alone does not reduce crime, and neither do current “rehabilitation” practices.
 
Here are a few meaningful facts:

1. The United States has 5% of the world’s population and 20% of the world’s incarcerated individuals.1
2. The societal costs of incarceration—lost earnings, adverse health effects, and the damage to the families of the incarcerated—are estimated at up to three times the direct costs, bringing the total burden of our criminal justice system to $1.2 trillion.3
3. About 75 to 85% of formerly incarcerated individuals will end up back in prison within five years.4
4. Incarcerated individuals who enroll in a higher education program are far less likely to be reincarcerated within five years of release from prison – 48% less likely.2
5. Over the last 20 years, state and local expenditures for incarceration have increased nearly 300% faster than expenditures for education.1
6. For an interesting chart of state expenditures per capita for education and incarceration go to https://money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/5
7. Prison-education programs, which rely primarily on funding from private donations, volunteers, and the Second Chance Pell* program, are not accessible to students who lack financial resources and support outside of prison.2
8. In state and federal prisons, 64% of incarcerated individuals academically qualify for postsecondary prison education programs, but less than 10% complete college courses while in prison.2

One thing is clear and positive: access to higher education will reduce recidivism, costs associated with incarceration, parole, and probation, and improved outcomes for formerly incarcerated individuals.


Now, how to improve access?


National, state, and local organizations are contributing to this effort. They are developing data, reports, policy statements, programs, and relationships with legislators to increase funding and support for prison education programs. The most visible are:


Alliance for Higher Education in Prison
https://www.higheredinprison.org/


Prison Education Foundation
https://www.prisonedu.org/


Mellon Foundation: Higher Education in Prison
https://www.mellon.org/programs/higher-learning/higher-education-prison/


Columbia University: The Justice-in-Education Initiative
https://justiceineducation.columbia.edu/about/partners/


Several key issues pertain to national, state, and local justice systems in general and corrections and rehabilitation systems in particular:

1. Most Americans are unfamiliar with the problems and costs associated with crime and justice. Furthermore, most Americans feel they are safer because law-breakers are behind bars “where they belong.”
2. Every prison is different: each has a unique population, culture, and authority. Funding varies from institution to institution and state to state. Funding has increased in nearly every state over the last 20 years due to growth in incarcerated populations, cost of living increases, and operational expenses.
3. Most previously incarcerated individuals will return to prison for a new offense within five years. Current practices in rehabilitation, parole and probation are not successfully closing the prison pipeline.
4. Higher educational (HE) opportunities in prisons reduces recidivism up to 48%, but most funding for such programs in currently primarily from donors, grants, and volunteers.
5. Concerned informed citizens can inspire the changes that need to be made by informing their legislators (at all levels) of the need for planning, funding and implementation of higher education in prisons.

MOTAL supporters and subscribers can contribute money to organizations that are dedicated to HE in prisons and/or write to legislators regarding the information and issues these MOTAL articles have presented. Higher education must be an element of any prison or justice system reform proposal. Please help with this effort and share this information with friends, family members, and community leaders. Thank you!


Submitted by Cheryl Stewart,
MOTAL Board member and treasurer


*Second Chance Pell Grants
July 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced it will expand the Second Chance Pell experiment for the 2022-2023 award year. The Second Chance Pell experiment has provided education opportunities for thousands of justice-involved individuals who have previously been unable to access federal need-based financial aid. The expansion will allow up to 200 colleges and universities to offer their prison education programs with support from the Pell Grant program, up from the 131 currently participating. To date, students have earned over 7,000 credentials, building new skills and improving their odds of success. Expansion of the experiment is part of the Department's efforts to expand access and equity in higher education. Providing education in prisons is proven to reduce recidivism rates and is associated with higher employment rates, which will improve public safety and allow individuals to return home to their communities and contribute to society.
 
Sources:
1U.S. Department of Education, Policy and Program Studies Service. (Jul 2016). “State and Local Expenditures on Corrections and Education. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports-postsecondary-education.html


2Gibbons, A. and Ray, R. (20 Aug 2021). “Societal benefits of postsecondary prison education.” https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2021/08/20/the-societal-benefits-of-postsecondary-prison-education/


3 American Action Forum. https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-economic-costs-of-the-u-s-criminal-justice-system/#ixzz7PbSW39R7


4World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-state


5CNN Money. Education vs Prison Costs. https://money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/