NCJ Number
172146
Journal
American Jails Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (July-August 1997) Pages: 83-85
Date Published
1997
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Data from 90 persons who took part in the on-site educational program provided to by Lakeshore Technical College to jail inmates in Sheboygan County (Wisc.) were used to determine whether these offenders continued their education after release and became productive members of the community's workforce.
Abstract
The program provides both instructor-directed and computer-assisted instruction during day and evening hours around the year. Participation is voluntary. Participants establish their individual education and employment plans at the registration and regularly evaluate their progress toward those goals with the help of the instructor. The participants had taken part in the program between June 1991 and May 1996. They were contacted by mail, by telephone, and in person in 1996. Results revealed that 53 participants were in the job market; 50 were employed and 3 were seeking employment. Thirty-seven were still serving their sentences and had no work-release privileges at the time of the study. More than half of the 50 employed individuals were employed in manufacturing; the others were employed in construction, home improvement, transportation, and services. All 90 participants had prior employment. Thirty-four percent attended Lakeshore Technical College courses and activities outside the jail project. Various participants credited the jail education project with helping them earn the GED/HSED, complete part of the GED/HSED, obtain or upgrade employment, take part in college courses, and obtain other skills. Eighteen participants stated that they planned to continue their education, 13 said that they planed to obtain a GED/HSED, 27 said that they planned to go to the technical college, and 21 said that they planned to go to a 4-year college. They commended that education enables them to better their lives and become productive taxpaying citizens.