2021 data<\/a>\u00a0from the Prison Policy Initiative, a higher rate than in countries such as the\u00a0United Kingdom\u00a0and\u00a0Canada<\/p>\n\u201cI believe mass incarceration is a public health crisis,\u201d said\u00a0Kate Richmond, program coordinator for Inside\/Out and a\u00a0Muhlenberg\u00a0psychology professor, noting the prison system most affects people of color and people with a mental illness.<\/p>\n
With the help of federal funds, incarcerated people in\u00a0Lehigh Valley\u00a0corrections facilities will now be able to earn a college credit through Muhlenberg College\u2019s Inside\/Out program for the first time.<\/p>\n
Muhlenberg\u00a0staff hopes that sets incarcerated students up to continue pursuing higher education once they are released, and in turn reduces the chance they will be incarcerated again.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp until this point we have not been able to award credit to the students who are incarcerated, and in my opinion that has been a deeply problematic part of our program,\u201d Richmond said. \u201cHaving a college credit opens up a tremendous amount of opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kristi Belotto, who spoke at the roundtable discussion, was part of the Inside\/Out program in 2019 when she was incarcerated at Lehigh County Community Corrections Center.<\/p>\n
Belotto said her experience with incarceration has impacted how she does her job now as a family-based counselor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has definitely made me more humble than I was before my experience,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really helped me see my clients where they\u2019re at, instead of already coming in with [ideas about] why they were recommended for the type of treatment that I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Belotto said she still keeps in touch with one of the\u00a0Muhlenberg\u00a0students she became friends with through the program.<\/p>\n
Muhlenberg\u00a0will also put funding toward its think tank to train graduates of the program on how to facilitate community discussions about criminal justice issues. Money will also go toward a research team to measure the effectiveness of the college\u2019s Inside\/Out program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re interested in the ways that the liberal arts encourage critical thinking, open mindedness and dialogue across difference,\u201d said\u00a0Jess Denke, instructor and program coordinator for Inside\/Out.<\/p>\n
The first iteration of Inside\/Out classes began in the late 1990s at\u00a0Temple University\u00a0in\u00a0Philadelphia. The program has since spread, with more than 200 partnerships globally between colleges and correctional departments.<\/p>\n
Part of Muhlenberg\u2019s grant money will go toward helping faculty from other local universities, such as\u00a0Lehigh University\u00a0and\u00a0Lafayette College, create their own versions of Inside\/Out.<\/p>\n
At\u00a0Muhlenberg, the program brings together 15 college students and 15 incarcerated students for a semester-long class to discuss their life experiences and to explore five topics related to the prison system: racism, mental health, globalization, mass media and the school-to-prison pipeline. Students then work on a research project as part of the course to identify a problem related to one of these topics in the\u00a0Lehigh Valley\u00a0and propose a way to address it.<\/p>\n
The power of the Inside\/Out program lies in bringing together a group of people who may not have otherwise met to bond through conversation, participants said.<\/p>\n
By hearing about the personal stories of their classmates, participants are able to brainstorm ways to fix the criminal justice and prison systems, and with the help of Muhlenberg\u2019s think tank, take action at the local level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all want to be connected to good jobs; we all want to be connected to our family; and we all believe truly that we can do better,\u201d Richmond said. \u201cAnd once we establish relationships with each other, we\u2019re able to tackle the hard questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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