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Soledad, Calif- Central Coast News takes you behind the bars, and into the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad. But budget cuts are forcing changes at the prison. We're taking you in depth to give you an idea of what they mean for you.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says there are about 25,000 parolees living along the Central Coast and Bay area. Central Coast News Reporter Shannon Hogan found out what convicts do and learn in prison plays a role in how they fit back into society.
There are 6,000 inmates at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad. Once released about 70% of them will be back behind bars. But the prison system says with a little education and vocational training they can reduce that by up to 15%.
Laurence Lang is a convicted murderer. He's served 29 years behind bars and for 10 of them he has worked in this print shop, “I've caused a lot of pain and I've done things that I’am not proud of and all I can do is ask society for another chance,” said Laurence Lang.
Lang is just one of thousands of inmates who have received education and training while doing time. Dennis Chan committed a crime as a 17 year old juvenile. 24 years later, he’s laterality grown up in prison. He learned English, and earned his AGED along with trade certifications in janitorial, graphic arts and printing trades. He'll likely rejoin society as a free man in the next few months and because of his CTF training Chan already has a job lined up when he is released, “I'm trying to be positive trying to increase my opportunity to better myself and my family. I’m trying to stay away from prison that’s it,” said Chan.
So why should you care? Well the CDCR says more than 90% of inmates return to the communities they came from, your town, and your neighborhood. Prison studies show job and academic skills give inmates a better shot at surviving in the real world, keeping them from filtering back into the system, “You don't want somebody to be in here twenty years and not learn anything and go out there on the streets and do the same crime again and hurt some body's family,” said John Holguin, a long time CTF educator.
Starting in January the Correctional Training Facility is cutting the number of vocational classes offered in half. Programs like janitorial services, landscaping, printing and graphic arts are closing up shop. Reducing the number of vocational an education programs means more idle time for inmates and that’s not always a good thing, “They say that an idle mind is the devils workshop. As long as the prison is running smoothly and there are not riots and all kinds of other stuff there’S less cost to society. If you take that away then their prone to be thinking about things other than this workshop, which basically would be the devils things,” said inmate Gregory LaRue.
Chan and some of the other print shop students try to encourage younger inmates and first time prisoners to get involved with the vocational and education programs, “When I was out there, no one helped me they wanted to use me so that’s why I help those people to show them the right way to help them stay out of trouble. To me education is the most important thing it’s the key, it’s the way out,” said Chan.
Without the educational opportunities, Lang fears for his fellow inmates and the communities they'll soon impact, “I do believe people are salvageable of course some may never change or some don't get the chance to change but mainly inside most people are genuinely good,” said Lang.
