EXCLUSIVE: Could This Program Stem Surging Violence at Rikers Island?

rikers 3(Studies have also shown that education reduces the chance an inmate will re-offend. In the late 1990s, a Texas study found that only 16 percent of inmates who had bene educated in prison committed another arrestable offense when they were released—well below typical and national recidivism rates.)

It’s also peppered with incentives to get inmates to participate, among them $15 a week for showing up. But there are less immediate bonuses, too, including access to continued help with employment, and continued education at CUNY, when an inmate is released—not just for the inmate, but for his family members as well.

“This is a big thing, because it gives him an opportunity to be a father and a husband—maybe to be a leader for the first time in his life,” said John Chiarkas of CUNY, who directs the program and described himself as akin to the principal of the school.

The promise of college is one reason Demetrio Velez, 27, attends the classes.

“I’m actually looking forward to going home and going to college,” Mr. Velez told the Observer during an interview in a computer classroom at GMDC. “I don’t care about anything else but going home and going straight to college.”

Mr. Velez, who city records show is incarcerated on a felony conspiracy charge, was one of three students chosen by the Department of Correction who were made available to the Observer for sit-down interviews during last week’s visit, before a reporter and photographer were able to observe a portion of Mr. Horton’s class. 

“We get to know each other. It’s not hostile. It’s a learning environment—everybody comes in and discusses what’s going on, and how things are gonna help us in the future,” Mr. Velez said. “A lot of people are skeptical, but we’re here. When we’re in here, we get looked at differently than everybody outside. But with John’s help, and everybody else’s, we get to come home and go to college, employment.”

Of course, college isn’t for everyone—so the program also offers inmates opportunities to pursue new career paths.

“I think sometimes we make a mistake in this field, where we provide what we think he customer needs—but if it doesn’t have an appeal, just like in the rest of the world, it might not work, right?” Phil Terwiel, the director of workforce development at the Department Correction, said. “So what we know that they are very excited about is industry recognized training.”

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