NCJ Number
239253
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 76 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2012 Pages: 30-34
Date Published
June 2012
Length
5 pages
Annotation
After describing a successful, sustainable community partnership between Portland State University (PSU) and Oregon's Columbia River Correctional Institution (CRCI), this article shows the relevance of salient elements in the literature to the specific partnership described; and it explains the benefits of academic-prison partnerships for the correctional system, academic institutions, inmates, and the community at large.
Abstract
In 2009, PSU began a partnership with the local State prison (CRCI), which is a pre-release facility with approximately 550 beds. The partnership initially involved an internship. One graduate student intern from PSU's criminology and criminal justice division of the Hatfield School of Government sought external funding by researching funding agencies and subsequently managing and editing a grant, with the objective of helping high-risk inmates successfully transition back into the community. The intern and staff of the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) submitted a grant proposal that targeted the development and evaluation of ODOC's transitional program designed to assist inmates in the desistance and reentry process. Because of the positive response to this effort, PSU and CRCI expanded their community partnership by increasing the number of internships. In addition to grant-related tasks, other services provided by these interns include assisting prison administrators with ODOC management presentations and interviewing inmates on-site in matching soon-to-be released offenders with mentors to assist them with reintegration in the community. In addition, PSE's Graduate School of Education, Curriculum, and Instruction have opened a curriculum designer internship at CRCI. The goal is to make this partnership sustainable through the creation of a graduate public administration internship. Based on the experiences of the Oregon partnership, this article provides advice on creating sustainable community partnerships, outlines the benefits for academia and prisons of such partnerships, and identifies obstacles likely to be confronted in the building of such partnerships. 33 references