Virginia’s Community Colleges offer general studies and business degrees, general education certificates and a range of workforce credential training programs in twenty prisons, jails and detention centers across the state.
Growing numbers of people serving time in Virginia prisons are turning to academic and workforce training programs offered by Virginia’s Community Colleges to improve their quality of life inside and boost their chances of success once they return to society. “As educators, we’re convinced that providing meaningful learning opportunities to incarcerated people benefits both the individuals and society by reducing recidivism, increasing post-release employment and creating a safer environment within correctional facilities,” said Dr. David Doré, Chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges.
“This training will be really helpful in my future. When I get out, I’ll be able to say I’m certified in HVAC and it will be easier for me to get a job.” C. Moomaw was serving time at the Baskerville Correctional Center when he told a visiting camera crew he has high hopes for having participated in Southside Virginia Community College’s Campus Within Walls program.
Moomaw
In that same video, L. Moreno said learning new workforce skills “definitely pushed me to see that I can do more in construction trades than I thought I could. It means I’ll have more opportunities than I did before.”
Moreno
Southside was the first Virginia Community College to establish programs for incarcerated people, starting in 1985. Prior to the Covid pandemic, SVCC offered workforce training and associate degree programs in 11 correctional institutions. The program is working to rebuild and currently has programs in a half-dozen prison units.
“It’s incredibly complicated to do this,” says Amanda Cox, SVCC’s coordinator for Campus Within Walls. “Not only do you need to find instructors who are willing to teach inside institutions, they must pass background checks. Courses are also limited, teaching materials need to be paper-based – there’s no Internet access inside – and there’s a ton of coordination that needs to be done with correctional officials,” Cox added.
But Cox is convinced it’s worth the effort. “This is absolutely the right thing to do. Students feel like they’re valued and that they won’t be going home empty-handed. These courses give them hope that they’ll have skills when they go home that they can use to secure productive employment.”
Cox
SVCC’s Campus Within Walls program was spotlighted during a recent gathering at the VCCS System Office of prison education leaders from across Virginia. You can learn more about Campus Within Walls on SVCC’s website.
Statewide Picture:
Currently, eleven of Virginia’s Community Colleges have active programs for people in the justice system, serving twenty prisons, jails and detention centers across the state. Almost 500 incarcerated individuals earned degrees, certificates or workforce credentials just last year. The VCCS Strategic Plan, Accelerate Opportunity, sets a system-wide goal to increase enrollment of incarcerated students by 25 percent by 2030.
Brown
“More than 1,500 students are currently enrolled statewide in our facilities and we want more programs like this,” said Dr. Adolph Brown, College Program Coordinator at the Virginia Department of Corrections. “One day, these guys are going to be back in society, so let’s help them learn skills to help them succeed. I’m convinced that academic and workforce programs help reduce recidivism and give inmates something to aim for and a sense that they’ve invested in the system while they’re incarcerated.”
Nationally, prison education advocates hope that FAFSA simplification and the expanded availability of Pell Grants to incarcerated persons will boost programs to help people serving time earn degrees and learn skills.
Since 2018 and with support from the Laughing Gull Foundation and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE), the VCCS and Virginia Dept. of Corrections have teamed up to form Virginia’s Higher Education for Incarcerated Students Consortium. The work of the Consortium is dedicated to empower incarcerated individuals in Virginia through equitable access to high-quality higher education, supported by a collaborative and diverse network of educators, and institutions committed to transformative learning and reentry success. If you have questions, please email Dr. Colleen Pendry, VCCS Career and Technical Education Program Coordinator at cpendry@vccs.edu.
You can view and download photos from the Consortium’s meeting on October 2 at the VCCS System Office in Richmond.
Additional note:
Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) recently received official approval from the U.S. Department of Education to operate as a recognized Prison Education Program (PEP) Institution, marking completion of the transition from the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative to full PEP status. Piedmont Virginia is the first college in the state to receive approval under these new federal regulations and less than 100 colleges in the United States have secured approval to date.
