I’ve been on your email list for a while now, I haven’t done much to keep up my profile but I’m very interested in what your are doing with the prison population. I came to prison on a 3 year sentence in Aug 2023, I will be leaving to transition to the halfway house Feb, 2025. During my time in prison and talking with other inmates, I’ve learned that women in prison do not have the same resources that are provided to men in certain if not all women’s federal institutions. Some institutions state they are programming institutions but they have limited staff and the waitlists are so long, you’ll never meet your programming requirement and get a below average on your score. FCI Tallahassee is a perfect example of what goes on in many prisons around the country. The education department provides GED and VT services but that doesn’t cater to all individuals and your education can’t go any further. You can’t advance your studies to get a degree and there are no incentive to change this but the institution claims to they are a “programming institution.” You can’t get a Pell grant at this institutions because we are told FCI Tallahassee is not a participate for the Pell Grant, so your education stops because many do not have the means to pay for an education. There are no real parenting programs, parenting class last for 6-10 weeks and many times you don’t attend all the classes because staff is not available. The program does not help with parenting, it’s outdated and insufficient, they don’t teach you the fundamentals of being a parent. Many women struggle with life skills and those aren’t taught at this institution, many women have been in and out of prison and have no life sills to help them succeed. How does this change?
I want to utilize my degree and skill to help women in and out of prison to assist them so they can succeed after prison and not return. How do I accomplish this?
