A step up for inmates
“I’d fallen into a life that most of you would not want to see,” Leonard told the Assembly Judiciary Committee during a hearing on Senate Bill 317.
The day she walked into the state women’s prison in north Las Vegas five years ago, she felt her life was over. But before long her attitude shifted. She finished high school in prison and wanted to keep going to get an associate’s degree. Classes were offered at the prison. But the classes cost money.
“Since the average job in prison pays about 15 cents a day,” Leonard said, “if I wanted to save for classes, I’d still be saving right now.”
Inmates are not eligible for any kinds of grants or scholarships, either. When state legislators voted against allowing inmates to access the state’s Millennium Scholarship program, many approved of the privilege not being offered to those who’ve been found guilty of crimes.
Leonard testified in support of SB 317, which would establish a structure for state prison education and training programs. Part of the bill calls for the creation of a fund to help inmates pay for classes if they meet certain income requirements and if they are enrolled in a program that ends in getting a college degree.
Numerous studies link reductions in recidivism—the number of former inmates who end up returning to prison after their releases—to increases in education and job training, says Dorothy Nash Holmes, assistant to the director of the Nevada Department of Corrections.
Sen. Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas) expressed concern over funding higher education for inmates when other low-income state residents, such as single moms, struggle to attend college.
“The focus of this program is not to level the playing field,” Holmes said. “The single mom out there struggling to work two jobs and school is eligible for Pell Grants. Inmates are eligible for nothing, no grants or Millennium Scholarships.”
Most of the bill’s content involves putting procedures in place for the prison’s education program—clarifying who’s in charge of various programs and putting “a structure around an informal system that already exists,” Holmes said.
The tuition waivers would affect only a few individuals, Holmes said.
“We had fewer than 15 inmates complete associate’s degrees [last year],” she said. “This is not a large number.”
Leonard said her grandparents eventually raised the money for her to begin taking classes.
“I enrolled in five classes and got all A’s,” she said, proudly. “I decided to do something rather than rack up felonies. Receiving and earning my degree was the greatest day of my life.”
SB 317 passed in the Nevada Senate on April 18 and is now pending approval in the Assembly.
Leonard said the bill’s passage will signify support for individuals who choose to reform.
"There are a lot of women there who can’t pay for their classes," she said. "Give them a hand up and tell them this is what you can do."