About two-thirds of prisoners go back to jail within three years of being released, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But, as The Daily Advertiser reports, an online learning platform at 15 correctional facilities is helping Louisiana inmates create a new future for themselves.
Using tablets and headphones, inmates are earning college credit and taking GED classes at no cost to the state or the student, while also staying out of trouble.
The state tested Lantern—an educational program for the incarcerated created through a partnership with Ashland University in Ohio—at the Louisiana Transition Center for Women in Madison Parish.
Kim Barnette, retired state director of correction education in Louisiana, said it was a success in that not only were the women educated, but it also reduced discipline issues inside the institution.
The focus was on their education. And in the long-term, those with more education are less likely to re-offend, according to a 2013 RAND Corporation study.
Not only are inmates 43% less likely to go back behind bars but they also are more likely to get a job, according to the research.
Reducing recidivism, the likelihood that an offender will return to prison, also saves people money. There’s no need to pay for incarceration the next time when there is no next time.
Putting Lantern in Louisiana facilities was an easy transition, Barnette explained. The state already had a contract with JPay, a correctional service provider, and just expanded that contract to include Lantern.
