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WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2022
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Illiteracy
Continued from Page 1A
About 15% of adults in Oregon pris-
ons read below an eighth-grade level, an
analysis by the Statesman Journal
found. Nationwide, an estimated 70%
or more of incarcerated people can’t
read at the fourth-grade level.
It’s not clear whether Oregon prison-
ers are actually more literate since there
is no state-by-state comparative data or
federal oversight. Corrections officials
could not explain why the Oregon num-
bers are so different than national sur-
veys.
State law requires the majority of
these prisoners take classes while in-
carcerated. Yet the Statesman found
nearly half of Oregon inmates who qual-
ify as low-level readers — those who
read below an eighth-grade level — have
never been enrolled. And funding and
access to these programs are not prio-
ritized.
Funding for adult education in Ore-
gon prisons accounts for less than 6% of
the Department of Correction’s overall
budget. No money is allocated specifi-
cally for lower-level readers.
Oregon prioritizes classroom spots
for incarcerated youth with prior special
education history, as well as adults with
fewer than three years remaining on
their sentences and those who have
waited the longest.
Between February 2021 and January
2022, Oregon prisoners placed in class-
es had been on the waitlist for an aver-
age of 68 days. The longest delay was
266 days.
More than 1,200 prisoners remained
on the waitlist as of late June.
Prison education advocates are
pushing for change at the Legislature.
They want more class options, for ex-
ample, as well as easier access to higher
education in and after prison.
There has been little public discus-
sion, however, about how to better serve
prisoners who need basic reading and
writing skills.
And while the corrections depart-
ment works with organizations to sup-
port parolees upon release with things
such as housing and employment, they
have no community partnerships to
continue parolees’ literacy education —
despite studies that show specifically
helping the low-reader population could
have a significant impact on the broader
community.
Those who complete educational
programs while in prison are less likely
to return and are less likely to engage in
violence during incarceration. U.S. De-
partment of Justice studies also show
the positive impact these programs
have when formerly incarcerated indi-
viduals return to society, including a
higher chance of being gainfully em-
ployed.
“A lot of these folks have been in the
criminal justice system since they were
young children,” criminal justice reform
advocate Julianne Jackson of Salem
said. “So, those cute little folks that we
should have taught to read before?
They’re adults now. And they still de-
serve that opportunity. They still de-
serve the opportunity to do better.”
Illiteracy in Oregon prisons
Jeffry Williams said he ran away
from home at 13, never having really
gone to school. He could barely read or
write when he first entered prison in the
1980s.
Williams spent five years in juvenile
detention, he said, before entering the
adult system as a self-described “notori-
ous gang member.” Now 55, he’s been in
and out for three decades with the long-
est span outside lasting about five
years.
In a class at Oregon State Correction-
al Institution in May, Williams eagerly
read the day’s assignment aloud, offer-
ing to continue further before popcor-
ning to the next student.
“I get frustrated sometimes and want
to walk out, but I don’t,” he said. “I know
it’s helping me.”
Williams is scheduled for release in
less than a year, with plans to manage
some property, and maybe mentor at-
risk youth one day, he said. He wiped
tears from under his glasses before lift-
ing his shirt to display his latest tattoo
— the name of a grandchild across his
stomach.
“I don’t have time for prison any-
more,” he said. “I have grandkids I
haven’t held yet.”
Prisoners undergo several assess-
ments during the intake process, ex-
plained Tracie Hightower, director of
education and training for the Oregon
Department of Corrections.
These assessments — typically con-
ducted with paper and pencil in the first
three days — identify their educational
needs and whether they qualify for the
state’s Adult Basic Skills Development
programming.
Adults who score less than 235 on the
reading portion of a test called the
“Comprehensive Adult Student Assess-
ment Systems,” known as CASAS, are
assigned mandatory literacy courses. A
score of 235 is equivalent to an eighth-
grade reading level.
Reliable data on how many adults in
prison can read proficiently is hard to
discern.
Some complete the test in earnest.
Some “pencil whip” it, corrections offi-
cials said, randomizing answers to get
through quickly. A handful of former in-
mates told the Statesman Journal they
were advised by other prisoners to pur-
posely perform poorly on assessments
so they could qualify for more support.
Data from the National Center for
Education Statistics show 10% of all
Oregon adults 15 years and older are
considered illiterate because they lack
basic prose literacy skills or could not be
tested due to language barriers.
According to CASAS test results, as
of mid-June, about 15% of adults in Ore-
gon’s prisons read below the eighth-
grade level.
The Statesman Journal found that of
the Oregon prisoners who tested below
the eighth-grade level, 8.6% are Black.
That aligns with the 8.7% of Black adults
in custody overall.
But nearly 33% of the adults who
qualify for mandatory literacy educa-
tion are identified as Hispanic, com-
pared with 12.7% of Hispanic adults in
the state prison population.
Oregon is one of few states that con-
firms if adults in custody have earned a
GED, high school diploma or equivalent.
Department of Corrections officials said
more than 60% of inmates have a cre-
dential, which they say is the inverse of
what they’ve seen from other states.
After receiving the CASAS scores, in-
mates are assigned to a class. Being as-
signed does not mean they’re enrolled
— they could be put on a waitlist first.
The only adults who are exempt from
classes are those with developmental
disabilities, those who have security or
health reasons, or those sentenced to
less than a year, to death or life without
parole.
If an adult refuses to participate, cor-
rections officials said their privileges
are downgraded, such as yard time or
what they can buy from the prison’s
canteen.
Each facility decides how they struc-
ture classes. Many do two hours of
classroom time, two hours of one-on-
one tutoring and two hours in the com-
puter lab per student per week.
The Department of Corrections part-
ners with Oregon’s Higher Education
Coordinating Commission and con-
tracts with local community colleges to
provide the instructors.
For low-level readers, Hightower
said, instructors are looking for skills
like phonic awareness, decoding, read-
ing fluency, comprehension and vocab-
ulary building — things skilled readers
use constantly.
Center
Inspection
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
The center also provides community
members the ability to borrow durable
medical equipment such as wheel-
chairs, walkers and other mobility aids.
Bates said she was new at the center
when it had to close down because of
the wildfires, and then again during the
worst of the pandemic.
“As we opened back up, I’ve been
trying to expand what we do in the
community center,” she said. “When
people walked into the building, it
seemed like they only saw a craft store;
there wasn’t a distinction between it
and the community center.”
One of the craft store’s providers,
Kimberly Shaw, owns a Teacup Greet-
ing Cards business that dominates a
display bank just inside the doors of the
center. It shares the small building’s
space alongside handmade children’s
clothes, bird houses, jewelry and all
manner of original artisan arts and
crafts.
Shaw comes from a family farming
background in the Orange County area
of Southern California, and has been
making cards since 1984. She moved to
the Mt. Angel area in 2012, but only
brought her stock of greeting cards —
now her primary business — into the
community/senior center in November
of last year.
Putting her cards in the center was a
positive move for Shaw, in that “it al-
lowed me to do something different and
completely outside the box.” She said
she now has a chance to create cards
that feature words of encouragement.
“While ODA takes the backlog very
seriously and is working to decrease
the numbers, the backlog does not di-
rectly pose a health risk to the public
but represents a decrease in regulatory
oversight,” ODA communications di-
rector Andrea Cantu-Schomus said.
Budget
Continued from Page 1A
The city is installing a new pump
station and water line at a cost of $4.6
million. Part of that will be paid for with
a $1.1 million grant.
The water line project on Second
Street will upsize 41,400 feet of water
from Jefferson Street to Lincoln Street.
The city received a $1.15 million grant
from the Economic Development Ad-
ministration for that. It also will con-
tribute $200,000 to the project.
Also, 1,400 feet of Second Street
from Lincoln will receive sidewalk and
stormwater improvements at a cost of
$2.4 million.
Ensuring safe food
The sign outside identifies the wares
sold at the Mt. Angel Community and
Senior Center. GEOFF PARKS / SPECIAL TO
THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
Sales of her products and the other
craftspeople’s diverse stock provide a
nice stream of revenue — and also to
the center — most contracts provide
the Mt. Angel Community and Senior
Center a 35% revenue cut of the sales.
Over a century has passed since the
first “Community Chest” was founded
in Cleveland, Ohio, by a charitable
foundation. And though the term has
faded in usage, the principles behind it
are thriving in places like Mt. Angel.
Freelance
writer/photographer
Geoff Parks is based in Salem. Have a
Silverton story idea? E-mail him at
geoffparks@gmail.com.
The city also has projects including a
study on storage and recovery of water
($450,000), replacement of sewer pipe-
lines ($450,000), improvements to the
wastewater treatment plant ($245,000),
a sidewalk on James Street ($307,500)
and stormwater improvements from
Rock Street to Jersey Street ($100,000).
Silverton has a beginning fund bal-
ance of $55 million.
The city is receiving $1.1 million in its
second installation of funds from the
American Rescue Plan and $250,000
from Marion County for a pallet shel-
tering facility.
The fiscal year started July 1 and
runs through June 30, 2023.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County
for the Statesman Journal Contact him
at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
ODA’s Food Safety Program licenses
and inspects nearly 11,000 food-related
establishments, including grocery
stores, egg handlers, dairies, bakeries,
shellfish and seafood handlers, food
storage warehouses, locker plants,
meat, dairy and beverage processors,
and licensed domestic kitchens.
Its mission is to prevent foodborne
illness by checking whether those es-
tablishments are following rules to as-
sure consumers’ safety, such as keep-
ing deli food at correct temperatures,
keeping expired food off shelves, mak-
ing sure employees wash their hands,
and protecting products from pests
such as rats and cockroaches.
Lessons also are based on the stu-
dent’s interests, culture and real-life
context. There is a focus on daily living
skills needed to function both in and
outside prison, Hightower explained,
including how to navigate DOC docu-
ments, medical and dental forms or job
applications.
“Many adults have been in DOC cus-
tody for so many years that they have no
understanding or experience with what
an email is, how to send and receive a
text message,” she said.
State policy requires students in cus-
tody to be retested after receiving be-
tween 60 and 100 hours of instruction to
measure progress.
The Statesman Journal asked to see
data showing how those serving longer
sentences progressed in their reading
levels. Corrections officials said there
was no research on the subject.
“Testing at the beginning of COVID
was nonexistent. Then it was completed
one at a time, which makes for a slow
process since,” Hightower said.
She added the information they have
now, as a result, doesn’t fully represent
the last two years.
Each state sets a different bar for how
they define and address illiteracy. And
there is little to no federal oversight. Da-
ta on literacy rates are often outdated or
incomplete.
California, for example, requires its
prisoners to be assessed upon entry, like
Oregon. Prisoners there attend academ-
ic programming two hours a day, five
days a week. Of all incarcerated people
in California, 8.3% scored below a
fourth-grade reading level based on CA-
SAS. The fourth-grade level is used by
California corrections to determine
class placement, compared to Oregon’s
eighth-grade level.
In Washington, 56% of tested prison-
ers scored below the eighth-grade read-
ing level. But unlike Oregon, Washing-
ton only tests incarcerated adults after
it’s confirmed they don’t have a high
school diploma or equivalent.
Washington retests prisoners every
three to four months to measure pro-
gress. Corrections officials said testing
and classes have both decreased during
COVID-19.
Some comparative data is available
through the National Reporting System
for Adult Education, tracking Adult
Education and Family Literacy Act, or
Title II, programs.
Oregon’s Title II programs, for exam-
ple, served more than 2,200 currently
and formerly incarcerated adults who
received basic skills and literacy ser-
vices from July 2020 through June 2021.
See ILLITERACY, Page 3A
The program doesn’t inspect restau-
rants or school cafeterias. Those are
overseen by the Oregon Health Author-
ity and Oregon Department of Educa-
tion, which delegate the job to county
health departments.
The Statesman Journal first exposed
problems in the Food Safety Program in
a December 2014 report on the state’s
failure to regularly inspect grocery
stores.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administra-
tion recommends grocery stores be in-
spected at least every six months. But
the Statesman Journal found that 55
percent of Oregon’s retail food estab-
lishments had not had an inspection
for a year, and 5 percent had not had an
inspection for three years or more.
In 2014, when the Statesman Jour-
nal requested inspection reports for the
29 largest stores in Salem and Keizer,
more than half had not had an inspec-
tion in more than a year. Six had gone
more than two years without an in-
spection and one had not been inspect-
ed in three years.
During a four-day period before pro-
viding the records, the state quickly in-
spected the seven local stores that were
See INSPECTION, Page 4A
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