Crime is why participants enroll in community monitoring programs. As a technology provider, we seek to partner with participants to curb the negative behaviors and support positive decision making into the future. But oftentimes, criminal activity and/or threats to society are a symptom of larger systemic challenges a person faces – and just as in medicine, if we don’t treat the root of the problem, we won’t be able to cure the symptoms. While the factors that contribute to a person’s ultimate decision to engage in criminal behavior are multifaceted and often unique to the person, there are two common factors that have been statistically linked to the likelihood a person will commit a crime: education and wages.
While we can’t turn back the hands of time to keep our participants engaged in school and the workforce, we can invest in their future education and career development as part of their monitoring programming. And if our ultimate goal is to help our participants meaningfully rehabilitate and engage with our community as productive citizens, industry-leading research says education and career readiness training must be part of our monitoring programming.
The findings are clear:
- According to The Rand Corporation, inmates who participate in correctional education programs had a 43% lower odds of recidivating than those who did not. This translates to a reduction in the risk of recidivating by 13 percentage points.
- Northwestern University reports that a $1 investment in prison education saves taxpayers $4 to $5 in reincarceration costs during the first three years after a person is released from prison.
- A report published in the Journal of Experimental Criminology noted that inmates who participated in educational courses during their prison experience were 28% less likely to reoffend upon release than inmates who did not enroll in education courses.
- While educational opportunities are expanding behind prison walls, people with a history of incarceration are routinely excluded from future educational opportunities. In fact, justice-involved individuals are eight times less likely to earn a college degree than people who have not been incarcerated.
There are numerous other academic and expert studies that point to the same conclusion: when education is a prioritized component of community corrections programming, participant outcomes improve. And while a majority of research has been devoted to the efficacy of integrated education within prison systems, we can logically assume that incorporating such content into low-risk community monitoring programming could yield similar rehabilitative results.
As an organization that emphasizes data-backed practices and encourages agencies to implement leading technologies, we knew that access to educational materials needed to be part of our suite of tools. Enter our partnership with MaxxContent.
About Maxx Content:
MaxxContent is a trusted leader in digital content and workforce development solutions with thousands of educational materials in its arsenal. The Maxx Learning Management System (Maxx LMS®) entered the education technology space by strategically partnering with content providers to deliver a wide variety of programs. These virtual courses span five core categories: life skills and rehabilitation; management skills; continuing services; vocational training; and career development services.
The variety of educational materials provided allows agencies to configure course offerings based on a participant’s needs, skills, lived experiences and risk class. The variety of educational materials provided allows agencies to configure course offerings based on a participant’s needs, skills, lived experiences and risk class. Maxx LMS® offers a robust reporting feature that can be used by administrative professionals to monitor participation and engagement. Reports cover key metrics like program enrollment, program completion, quiz scores, and program access.
About the MaxxContent and Corrisoft’s partnership:
Through our partnership with MaxxContent, peer-reviewed educational resources can be integrated with our existing software and hardware to enhance programming. Corrisoft already provides hardware and software to participants and agencies to create a more equitable rehabilitative program, but now continues to redefine rehabilitation with equal access to educational resources for all participants.
Corrisoft will offer 20 courses with lessons ranging 30 minutes to an hour long. We strategically selected the courses that would set participants up for success in the contemporary job market. Some of the available options include contemporary technology skills, entrepreneurship and job readiness training. By enhancing the online library with reputable materials that can support a holistic approach to reentry, we are reducing the likelihood that a participant will reengage with a community corrections program in the future.