A Life-Changing Education

LC STATE LEADS SECOND CHANCE PELL PROGRAM FOR INCARCERATED STUDENTS IN OROFINO, LOOKS TO EXPAND PRISON EDUCATION OFFERINGS

By Tara Roberts

Travas Bickhart never saw himself as being good at school. He partied through high school, then went to work drilling oil and gas wells and hard-rock mining. After being incarcerated in 2017, he worked maintenance in prison. But he wanted a future that was easier on his body and better for his community — so he signed up for classes through Lewis-Clark State College’s Second Chance Pell program.

He was surprised to discover that school was a different story this time around.

Writing a personal narrative for instructor Lisa Goodrich’s English 101 class in fall 2022 gave Bickhart the chance to express his feelings for the first time since his incarceration. When he shared it with other inmates, they praised his writing. That good feeling motivated him to keep going. He took two more classes in spring 2023.

College, Bickhart said, is his way of feeling proud of himself and taking responsibility for his life.

“It’s given me something else to look forward to when I leave the facility. I see it as a way to help adjust, because it’s the only thing that I can take away from here that I can continue on,” he said. “It opens up more doors. I would like to give back to people who are incarcerated. I’m really disappointed in what I did, and I have a lot of regrets. But I want to take that and turn it into something positive.”

Bickhart was among the first students in the Second Chance Pell Experiment pilot program at Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino (ICIO). In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Education selected LC State to administer the pilot program.

LC State offered its first in-person, for-credit classes in the school facility inside ICIO in fall 2022, with 21 students enrolled. Enrollment jumped to 33 in spring 2023. This fall, the college is serving over 60 ICIObased students

It’s the beginning of a long-term vision: LC State leaders have applied with the Federal Department of Education to become a Prison Education Program (PEP) institution, opening the door to more course and degree options for incarcerated students at ICIO and in other locations in Idaho.

A History Of Partnership

A 1994 law eliminated need-based Pell Grants for people in federal or state prisons, but the Obama Administration launched the Second Chance Pell Experiment in 2015. The program has since provided federal Pell Grants to thousands of incarcerated people to pay for postsecondary education through 200 schools across the country.

The LC State pilot program was part of the experiment’s third round, which added 73 colleges and universities. Beginning July 1, 2023, Pell Grants are once again broadly available to incarcerated adults who are enrolled in an eligible PEP program and meet other requirements. The grants, along with other funding sources, cover students’ tuition and book costs.

LC State has a history of partnership with ICIO. Since 2009, the college has offered non-credit welding classes at the facility. When the opportunity for the Second Chance program arose, LC State leaders began working with ICIO-based educators to apply.

David Manley — an Idaho Department of Correction instructor who leads educational programs at ICIO — said the prior partnership helped the new program start strong. LC was able to immediately offer inperson classes at ICIO, supplementing with online options.

“LC was the most robust and most agile and flexible in terms of just, ‘Let’s build this and get it going,’” Manley said.

Inmates first had to complete a college-prep course at ICIO, then had to apply for college to be eligible for Pell Grants. LC State sent its financial aid and advising teams to assist them.

In July 2022, the college hired Dovie Willey ’20 as its new adult learning coordinator, with much of her job focused on ICIO. She coordinates with ICIO employees and LC State staff in financial aid, admissions and advising, along with faculty and administrators in the School of Professional and Graduate Studies and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

As a bridge between LC State and ICIO, Willey is a familiar face at the prison. She said LC State’s commitment to being there in person makes a huge difference to the incarcerated students. President Cynthia Pemberton, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Fred Chilson and Dean of

Professional and Graduate Studies Luther Maddy have all visited students at ICIO.

“They see our higher administration, not just our faculty. They have seen various staff members. We’re very involved, and I think that makes a key difference,” Willey said. “It’s nice because the students say, ‘I can’t wait to come to campus. I can’t wait to continue.’”

Benefits For Everyone

Matthew Anderson expects to parole out of ICIO soon, and the Second Chance Pell program is preparing him for that future. He’s active in ICIO’s PAWS dog training program and once directed a nonprofit dog rescue, which he’d like to do again. The math and communications classes he took in spring 2023 will help him pursue further education and run a business, he said — and the professors who taught him have helped give him confidence that he can find a pathway back into society.

“As an incarcerated person, we often do feel like we’ve been forgotten or just kind of discarded, swept away,” he said. “I know LC State has been really into getting into the prison and bringing this college stuff here. So it sort of validates you as a person.”

The combination of education and encouragement pays off for individuals and society as a whole.

Research by the nonprofit RAND Corporation has found that correctional education dramatically reduces the recidivism rate and is associated with higher post-prison employment rates. It’s also costeffective — according to a 2019 RAND report, “every dollar invested in prison education programs saves taxpayers, on average, between $4 and $5 in threeyear reincarceration costs.”

Almost all the men incarcerated at ICIO will be released someday and rejoin the community, said Deputy Warden Kent Shriver ’98, ’05.

“We want them out better, with more skills and being more productive than they were when they came in,” Shriver said, “So we do everything that we can to make the opportunity for them to be successful. One of those things is getting a college degree, because then they’re more hirable. They’re more likely to get a job or learn those soft skills you need to have a job.”

The LC State faculty members who teach at ICIO have found that the program is mutually rewarding for them and the students.

Spring 2023 Math 123 instructor Alan Hain said he initially felt uncertain about the program, but the experience has changed his mind. He wants his students to be good citizens after they’re released, and he has witnessed how dedicated they are to their education.

“I don’t go and ask them questions about what they did, and I honestly don’t care, as long as they’re good students, as long as they are respectful — and my gosh, they’re very respectful,” Hain said. “I found that I just really enjoy it.”

Leif Hoffmann — a political science professor who taught American National Government in fall 2022 — said he got involved with Second Chance Pell because he strongly believes in rehabilitation. He was also excited to teach incarcerated students about the multitude of ways politics directly affect their lives, from parole board hearings to the opportunity to attend college in prison.

“For a teacher, nothing is more enjoyable than when you actually have people who are prepared, and every student was prepared every week,” Hoffmann said. “They really wanted to learn. They really wanted to participate. They really wanted to be engaged. For me, it was the same thing — as a teacher, you feed off each other.”

Investments In The Future

David Hardy said the opportunity for higher education while incarcerated has shocked him out of the routine of prison and helped him imagine what might come next. Like Anderson, he is part of the PAWS program and is considering a career in dog training. He’d like to earn a social sciences degree to help him on that path.

He said he hopes LC State’s leadership results in more people having access to correctional education.

“I think implementing what LC is doing here with the incarcerated population is important,” Hardy said. “It’s actually changing people’s lives. I think it’s going to lower the recidivism rate and it’s going to keep people out of prison. I think advocating for it more would be beneficial.”

Leaders at the college and the prison are working on ways to deepen and expand their educational partnerships.

During the Second Chance Pell program, students choose a liberal arts or business administration degree path, but more will be offered once the Prison Education Program approval process is complete.

LC State will intentionally add degree options that will enhance inmates’ employment opportunities, Willey said, such as bachelor’s degrees in business management, business and communications, communications or social sciences.

To help incarcerated students better access their classes, ICIO is working toward being able to issue Chromebooks to every student so they can study in their units, instead of only in the classroom facilities, Shriver said.

LC State is also making progress on plans to eventually offer faceto-face instruction at Idaho State Correctional Center in Boise and Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, Willey said.

Manley said the federal government has gotten the ball rolling for investing in correctional education with the Second Chance Pell program. Now, he said, the state of Idaho has a chance to do even more.

“The more school opportunities that can become available, that’s only going to save taxpayer dollars in the long run. That’s only going to make for better neighbors in the long run, and a more educated population in the state of Idaho for people that go to prison and then have to get back out and enter reenter society,” Manley said. “It’s a real question for us as a society. How do we want to deal with incarcerated people?”

Why Prison Education Programs are Valuable

• There is a 43% reduction in recidivism rates for incarcerated individuals who participate in prison education programs.

• Education is almost twice as cost effective as incarceration. For every $1 invested in prison education, taxpayers save $4$5 in re-incarceration costs during the first three years postrelease.

• Individuals who participate in prison education programs are 12% more likely to be employed upon release than those who don’t take courses.

Source: RAND.org

Over 60 individuals currently housed in ICIO are enrolled in courses through LC State this fall. LC State is working with the Idaho State Board of Education, the Idaho Department of Correction and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities to offer the Prison Education Program to individuals at both the Pocatello and Boise facilities beginning in January 2024.

To support the Prison Education Program at Lewis-Clark State College, visit www.lcsc.edu/give

Non-Credit Creative Writing Class Offered

After teaching a composition class at ICIO, Lauren Connolly, associate professor of English, recognized a gap with the absence of regular classes over the summer. She approached Jennifer Anderson, associate professor, publishing arts and creative writing, with an idea to join forces volunteering their time to teach a creative writing class throughout the month of July.

The course emphasized writing poetry and creative nonfiction. Students read and discussed samples of the form by established writers, practiced the craft through short exercises, wrote their own creative pieces for workshops, and offered constructive criticism on each other’s works. The class was full at 20 students with an additional 20 on a wait list.

“Thank you so much for giving more than you will ever receive. You don’t know how much your time and investment matters to us.”

ICIO Workshop Student

“Thank you for coming here and helping us with this class. It was an experience I have never had, and I really appreciate it.”