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Page 8 News Street Roots • Jan. 6-12, 2017 News Street Roots • Jan. 6-12, 2017 INMATE JOBS, fro m page 5 PART II: Education and training programs Oregon Corrections Enterprises strives to provide meaningful work opportunities that help inmates develop jobs skills that will help them enter Oregon’s workforce after their release. But by law, they must do that without offering products or services that compete with Oregon industries or creating jobs that would undercut the local workforce outside the prison. Balancing these conflicting mandates “is very, very difficult,” said the agency’s administrator, Ken Jeske. BY CORRINE ELLIS this,’” Gastoni said. The program has a 15-student capacity each year. Despite the praise that the program ars in varying degrees of assembly fill receives from past students, enrollment has up the automotive shop at Oregon State been falling below expectations. The program Penitentiary, from a classic Porsche to a currently has 12 second- and 10 first-year 1965 Volvo. In the back of the shop is a small students. This is due in part to the nature of classroom. Inside, half a dozen men sit around prison, said Gastoni. Inmates get in fights or tables, focused on the textbooks sprawled in have other issues that result in them being front of them. removed from the program, or are ineligible But learning here goes well beyond the for it to begin with. textbook. For many of the participants, the Chemeketa also offers a Computer Assisted biggest lesson is how to work with others. Drafting program at Santiam Correctional They face challenges every day that require Institute, with the option of obtaining an them to work as a team and communicate associate degree. with one another. One of the most effective ways to prepare The two-year program is offered through inmates for the outside is through education, Chemeketa Community College and gives according to a 2014 study conducted by the students in-class and hands-on automotive RAND Corporation. The study, which experience. With the completion of general examined the effects of prison education education classes offered through the college, programs, concluded that inmates were 13 participants of the automotive class can percent more likely to get a job after being receive their associate degree in automotive released if they had participated in some form technologies upon completion. P H O T O B Y JO E G L O D E of correctional education. With the assistance of the Pell Pilot Ä7Z Gastoni teaches the automotive class at The study also concluded that inmates who Program, many participants of the automotive Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, p a rt o f participated in educational programs were 43 program are now able to take their general Chemeketa Com m unity College’s College Inside percent less likely to experience reoffend education classes free of charge. This includes program within three years than those who didn’t math and writing classes needed to earn the participate. automotive technologies degree. Education assessment is one step in the “I was in a very deep, dark depression, and The automotive program itself, while not initial intake process for all inmates. As of I just wanted to leave OSP,” Lee said. “And covered by Pell, costs inmates $25 per term. 2014, of those who entered prison without a now with this going on, after the two-year Tucker said the small fee helps the high school diploma or equivalent, 67.1 program, there is an option to stay in and participants feel as though they’re making an percent were released having earned a GED. become a worker, and I would like to be able investment and makes them more likely to However, with a statewide prison to do that for another year or more if complete the degree. population of nearly 15,000 inmates, education possible.” Bill Gastoni has been teaching the class for programs are few and far between. GED and After dropping out of high school at age 16, the past 14 years. Gastoni is proud of the adult basic education programs are standard Lee said he had to get used to the classroom success stories that have come out of his fare at all 14 of Oregon’s correctional facilities. setting again, but now feels more confident shop. His program boasts a recidivism rate of Beyond that, however, inmates are left with about leaving prison and finding a job. 2.5 percent and an average GPA of 3.8 for few options. Coffee Creek Correctional While Taylor and Lee are both dedicated to those who complete the program. Facility, the state’s only women’s prison, the program, Gastoni said that’s not the case Altogether, the recidivism rate for offers the widest range of courses, including a for everyone. Oftentimes students don’t give it graduates of Chemeketa’s College Inside is 6 hair salon and a barista training program. But their all or their hearts aren’t in it, Gastoni percent, compared with 24.6 percent of at other facilities, there isn’t much available to said. inmates in Oregon state prisons who are provide inmates with an education that can “Some of them are disappointing. They’re convicted of a felony within three years of help them succeed outside of prison. just here because they want to stay at OSP being released. One of the biggest roadblocks to expanding and don’t have anything better to do but don’t Inmate Kenneth Taylor, a recent graduate education programs, as with many state-run have any desire to do this (automotive) of the program, went right to work in the programs, is adequate funding. It already costs afterwards,” Gastoni said. “I put a lot of effort prison’s auto shop after finishing his Oregon $34,510 to house an inmate for a year, into these guys, and then they fail or don’t curriculum. Some Salem residents pay the before adding in the cost of college education care.” prison to have inmates repair their vehicles. programs inside. Despite the program’s low recidivism rate, Thanks to the program, Taylor now feels Prior to 1994, many prisoners nationwide Taylor said that people don’t jump at the more hopeful about his future and the skills were eligible to receive Pell Grants to enroll in opportunity like one might expect that he has gained. discounted college education programs while “A lot of people do not want to put in the “It’s a great learning experience if you take incarcerated. That changed when President work, and they do not want to let go of the advantage of it and utilize the tools we have Bill Clinton introduced the Violent Crime constraint put on you out there and the available here,” he said. “You can get out of Control and Law Enforcement Act, which this program fully ready to go out into the real mentality you have to have in order to be out included a provision that barred anyone from there,” Taylor said. world and work on anything. I feel confident in receiving educational grants while in a penal “It’s prison mentality,” Gastoni said. “You my abilities at this time considering where we institution. have to want to change yourself, and a lot of started.” . The Obama administration has taken steps these guys just like being the way they are. When we spoke with Taylor, he was only a in the past few months to reinstate Pell That’s why they’re here.” month away from his release date and said he Grants as an option for inmates. The Second The kind of skills they learn in educational planned on using the skills he learned in the Chance Pell Pilot Program, which began in programs such as Gastoni’s are crucial to the automotive class to pursue an engineering July, brings together colleges and prisons success of these individuals once they’re degree. across the country to provide degree and released. There are the communication skills “Even if we can touch one out of 20 certificate programs. that help them work with others and the students, that’s still a positive thing,” Gastoni According to the official notice from the problem-solving skills that allow them to face said. “I do my best. I try to keep contact with U.S. Department of Education, the pilot problems head on. But more than anything, them on the outside, and if they have trouble, program requires that participating Gastoni said, is the process of learning that they can give us a call.” institutions “only enroll students in there are options besides criminal activity. Gerry Lee is partway through the program “Once I get that through to them, then they postsecondary education and training and credits it for helping turn his life around. programs that prepare them for high-demand get on the outside and go, ‘You know what? I He is scheduled to be released in 2019 and occupations.” They must also be legally able to can be a better person. I don’t need to go and hopes to stay in the automotive shop until enter into said occupations or obtain any steal o r do crime. I can actually have a job, then. licenses or certifications despite their status have an income and make a good living doing Page 9 STAFF WRITER C The laundry P H O T O B Y JOE G L O D E A n inm ate a t Oregon State Penitentiary works on an car during automotive class. a s a n ex-convict. The U.S. Department of Education estimates in the 2016-17 school year approximately 186 inmates at three Oregon correctional facilities will be eligible for these Pell Grants through Chemeketa Community College. Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon State Correctional Institution and Santiam Correctional Institution are the only prisons in Oregon that offer the program. In order to qualify for a Pell Grant, inmates must have one full year without any reported violent behavior or prison rule violation. At Chemeketa, the focus is on those who are within five years of being released. Some opponents of the program say it takes away from deserving students that aren’t incarcerated. Pell’s 2016 budget is more than $32 billion, and the Department of Education estimates that the funds needed for inmate Pell grants make up less than 0.1 percent of the entire budget On the issue of money, Jonathan Tucker, Oregon Department of Corrections’ Salem- area education manager, refers back to the RAND study, which concluded that for every dollar spent on corrections education, taxpayers save $4 to $5. Tucker currently manages the education programs offered through Chemeketa Community College at Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon State Correctional Institute and Santiam Correctional Institute. One of the biggest struggles has been finding adequate resources, Tucker said. While Chemeketa’s College Inside program is offered at three correctional facilities across Salem, all program organizing is done by a single person. “Pell is so great and it’s important symbolically, but really, until we put some money towards the actual department funding so we can have some part-time staff to come How do we measure recidivism? In corrections, the best measure of success is generally agreed upon to be the recidivism rate, or the rate at which people reoffend after their release. In Oregon, the Department of Corrections uses the percentage of inmates who are convicted of a new felony within three years of their release to count recidivism. Among the most recent group of parolees to reach the three-year mark, 24.6 percent were convicted of a new felony within three years of their release from state prison. In national comparisons, this makes Oregon appear to have one of toe best rates in the nation, but comparing recidivism rates can be misleading. For one, some states count recidivism as toe percentage of parolees who are arrested or sent back to jail or prison for any reason. In the only state-to-state study of recidivism rates done to date, The Pew Center compared toe rate at which parolees were returned to prison. Oregon came out ahead, but only because in Oregon, parole violations get you a bed in in and help, it actually makes it tougher,” Tucker said. If this pilot program runs successfully, Tucker hopes other institutions, both correctional and educational, will see the success of College Inside. “We want to make sure by the end of this pilot that we’re able to say we took in 71 Pell- eligible students, 71 graduated with degrees, and 69 of those 71 have not yet returned to jail, not prison like many other states. So technical violations were not counted, explained Kelly Officer, a senior research analyst at the Criminal Justice Commission. According to toe CJC, toe state agency responsible for tracking crime statistics, 29,6 percent of inmates released from Oregon state prisons between January 2011 and July 2013 were convicted of a new misdemeanor or felony within the first three years of toeir release - and 42.3 percent were arrested. If that many offenders are finding themselves in handcuffs within three years .of their release from state prison, Oregon may want to ask itself if it could be doing things better.,And, as toe Marshall Project pointed out in a report titled “The Misleading Mato of ‘Reckfivism,’” those numbers only account for people who committed crimes within three years of their release - and got caught. -Em ily Green prison,” Tucker said. Tucker and Gastoni are starting the new year with cautious optimism. With President elect Donald Trump soon to be sworn into office, the future of the Pell Pilot Program is unclear. “We’re silently nervous and hopeful at the same time,” Tucker said. Corinne@streetroots.org When we entered the laundry, the first thing we noticed was its size; it’s gigantic. Hundreds of inmates appeared to be hard at work in the labyrinth of commercial washing machinery and folding stations. Area hospitals send all their linens to OSP for cleaning. The laundry floor manager, Damon Plattner, explained that most laundries this size outside of the prison system are fully automated, but he would never be able to assign the nearly 300 inmates he has working for him if the facility were modernized. He said entry-level laundry workers earn about $70 to $80 a month. As we strolled from one end of the laundry to the other, Plattner explained the different jobs inmates were performing. Some of the jobs seemed tedious, but he said they have the ability to switch things up or work for another Oregon Corrections Enterprises operation, such as the furniture factory or welding shop. “For many of them,” Plattner said, “it’s having a job for the first time and understanding that there is a requirement of (them) to do that job and keep that job.” For motivated individuals, the laundry offers management positions and a maintenance program, where inmates learn to fix machinery, which Plattner said is a valued skill in any manufacturing plant Plattner said he’s also reinstating an electrical apprentice program where graduates can earn journeyman licenses, but the six- to eight-year program will take only two inmates at a time. We sat down in the back office with Daniel Kirkland, 48. He’s serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and he said he’s found a meaningful career in the laundry as a lead technician. “There’s a gambit of opportunities offered here,” he said, citing religious activities, drug and alcohol programs, clubs such as the Toastmasters and educational courses offered at OSP. He’s working on an associate degree through Chemeketa Community College, as well. “It comes to the individual. They have to seize the moment,” Kirkland said. “To be honest, I think everything is here and in place. We have to take the initiative and do it” Kirkland previously spent 13 years at Two Rivers Correctional Institution, where, he said, there are fewer opportunities for inmates. “I am very grateful, and I carry myself that way, but if I chose to live in that old mindset, I probably would be out in the yard, lifting weights, reading a book, watching TV, and letting life pass me by instead of being a part of i t ” As we spoke with inmates, it became clear that in Oregon’s prison system, there are opportunities for inmates who want to better themselves. We also heard repeatedly, from inmates and staff, that many inmates have a “prison mentality” and are not motivated to do anything beyond the bare minimum. Additionally, some prisons have fewer programs than others, making the coveted jobs with Oregon Corrections Enterprises more difficult for inmates-to acquire at some institutions. Compliance challenges A study of Washington State Correctional Industries, which is set up similarly to Oregon Corrections Enterprises, found that for every dollar spent on its programs, $4.77 is saved in future criminal justice costs. OCE commissioned a similar report with an expected release at the end of the year. These programs are already limited in size, making it surprising that two of the most beneficial programs at OSP, the contact center and the automotive training program, were not at capacity. While Oregon Corrections Enterprises is now engaging with a record number of inmates, that number is only 1,400 out of Oregon’s 12,470 work-eligible prison inmates. And that law requiring that able-bodied inmates all work full time? Oregon Department of Corrections has never been in full compliance with that requirement. Between January and November 2016, 67 percent to 71 percent of Oregon’s work- eligible inmates were in compliance with the law during any given month. One institution was as low as 29 percent in compliance. Most of Oregon’s 8,800 working inmates are assigned directly to Department of Corrections jobs rather than Oregon Corrections Enterprises. Roberta Angelozzi, who oversees the DOC-run inmate work programs, said: “The number of jobs that we can provide is the biggest issue. You take a small institution that doesn’t need 20 people in the kitchen or 50 people to run the maintenance program, and you have 400 inmates, it’s hard to come up with meaningful jobs to put people in.” Inmate Jamie Pierce, 40, said he worked various jobs, “anything from line server to scullery, which is washing dishes, to floor crew,” during the three times he’s been incarcerated. When asked if he gained any skills from these DOC jobs, he said, “Absolutely not.” But then he added that he liked working on a DOC work crew in the forest The DOC contracts with the state Department of Forestry, U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Transportation, sending inmates to work alongside firefighters, rebuild trails, clean roadsides and perform other cleanup and landscaping- type duties. In rare cases, it will contract with private landowners in remote areas. Now he’s been working for Oregon Corrections Enterprises in its laundry for six years. “OCE saw something in me that I didn’t know I had. And so they kind of scooped me up, trained me how to do a job back there,” Pierce said. “There needs to be more skills given to See INM ATE JOBS, page 10 j
