Arizona State University's continued collaboration with Televerde Foundation is paving the way for a brighter future for incarcerated women at Perryville Prison. ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business has teamed up to provide inmates with an education that can evolve into college credits, and the latest expansion of the PATHS program is set to make this transition even more seamless. ASU professor Julia LaRosa told azfamily.com that teaching in the program is a point of pride, with her students meeting for three hours weekly "just like a normal college class."
Since its inception in 2020, the PATHS program, which stands for Prepare, Achieve and Transform for Healthy Success, has enabled women to gain certifications in various professional fields. However, they can now also turn to earn college credit through ASU's Universal Learner program for coursework completed with a C-grade or better. The Televerde Foundation has shared the cost to convert this advanced education into college credit and Televerde's CEO Michelle Cirocco emphasized the significance, stating women are "doing the same work as any student in college would," as per a statement obtained by azfamily.com.
The program's impact is not to be ignored, with resounding success evidenced by the fact that none of the 161 women who have completed the program thus far have reoffended, an exceptional figure compared to the typical 40-60% recidivism rate. Moreover, these graduates can expect to earn between 61-75% more than counterparts who did not undergo such preparation, an encouraging fact mentioned by both ABC15 and azfamily.com.
Indeed, the initiative is about much more than just imparting skills for the job market. In an inspiring statement to ABC15, Televerde's Executive Director Michelle Cirocco said, "When they come out of prison, they have not just the skills and the education, but they have the confidence and the courage and the ability to walk into any organization and feel like they belong there." This comprehensive approach to rehabilitation seems to be effectively setting these women up not just to rejoin the workforce but to thrive within it, something echoed by Televerde Foundation, which highlighted the urgency of such programs for women, citing their significant roles as primary breadwinners and caregivers upon release.
Among the transformed is Dorothy Hall, an inmate and mother of two, who chose to actively engage with the plethora of programs offered by the Department of Corrections. Hall's dedication led to her retaining her parental rights, as she eagerly relayed to ABC15, "I get to go home to my children...It means that the time I have to spend away from them being here, I've made it worth it because now I can go home and be something better for them." Her story is one of many that underscore the need for continued societal support for rehabilitative programs that harness education as the linchpin for meaningful change.
