UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the United States, more than 2 million people are incarcerated in federal, state and county correctional facilities. An additional 4.7 million are on probation or parole, and according to the National Institute of Justice, three-quarters of convicted offenders are likely to be re-arrested within five years.
"Recidivism rates continue to rise and that increase is something that is of particular concern in Centre County where we have three correctional institutions in our own backyard," said Efrain Marimon, referring to State Correctional Institution (SCI) Benner Township, SCI Rockview and the Centre County Correctional Facility (CCCF).
To help combat this rise, Marimon, an instructor in Penn State's College of Education, has established the Restorative Justice Initiative (RJI), a project that aims to build partnerships between Penn State and local correctional institutions to provide education programming to incarcerated individuals while also raising awareness for this forgotten population. Marimon serves as the director of RJI, leads the Prison Education Program of the project and teaches in the local correctional facilities.
"The idea of prison education is not new," Marimon said. "It's something that's operating at multiple campuses around the country, but it is new for Penn State. We now have partnerships with CCCF and SCI Benner."
Marimon, a licensed attorney and former social studies teacher, spent much of his time in the past two years contacting coordinators of prison education programs across the country to learn more about how they operate.
"I had a lot of questions," he said. "What are their ethical standards? What does the programming look like? What is their curriculum like? What components, if any, are accredited? I'm trying to get a feel for what are the different types of structures in which these programs exist."
As part of his research, Marimon visited Boston University, which has hosted a prison education program since 1972. College of Education Dean David H. Monk accompanied Marimon on the visit, which allowed them both to see firsthand the different types of classes that are offered as well as to meet one-on-one with the faculty members who teach those classes.
"Visiting Boston University gave me a window into what the program could look like here," Marimon said. "Right now, I think our program is much broader, especially since we're working with the jail."