Ford, J.M.Kaplan, Teagle and David Rockefeller Fund All Working to Bring College Into Prison
A small but steadily growing prison education program continues to expand with the help of some big foundations. The Prison to College Pipeline Program (P2CP), one of several programs offered by the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, provides college courses to incarcerated people who qualify so that they can complete their degrees after release.
Prison reform is having a moment in philanthropic circles, and with a prison population that at 2.2 million people exceeds the population of New Mexico, it isn’t hard to see why. There’s a lot of room for reform in the criminal justice system, with many funders focusing on the inequities of who goes to jail in the first place. But improving the life prospects of those already in the system is another critical priority.
This particular program is affiliated with the City University of New York. The institute brings CUNY professors to the Otisville Correctional Center to teach accredited classes to inmates there. This fall, 52 students are participating, but the hope is to expand to 150 students by 2019, with philanthropic support and participation of the Second Chance Pell Pilot, which allows prisoners to fund their education with Pell Grants.
Who is providing the philanthropic support? That would be the David Rockefeller Fund, the Ford Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the Teagle Foundation...