Televerde Foundation has partnered with the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University to advance its PATHS program even further. Women at Perryville Prison now have a chance to earn college course credits for the business classes they take while incarcerated, giving them hope for a better future after their time in prison.
PATHS is an acronym for Prepare, Achieve, and Transform for Healthy Success. It teaches women in prison skills they can use once they're done serving their time, like personal wellness, workplace readiness, employment strategies, mentoring, financial literacy, and lifelong learning.
Since 2020, the ASU W. P. Carey School of Business and Televerde Foundation have worked alongside community partners to offer the program.
As of fall 2023, women who complete the Career PATHS coursework earning a C-grade or better have the opportunity to turn their completed work into college credit through ASU's Universal Learner program. The associated fees are currently covered by Televerde Foundation, with future iterations also being funded by the donors through the ASU Foundation.
"Turning time in prison into a college education experience is truly inspiring," said Kostas Voutsas, who teaches the Effective Communication for Career Success class. "It is a practical course that empowers students to communicate as leaders, embrace diversity and inclusion, build positive relationships, and maximize efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace. It explores both verbal and nonverbal communication, cross-cultural communication, customer service, the writing process, writing mechanics, interviewing and resume techniques, as well as delivering presentations with confidence."
The success, according to ASU and Televerde, has been in the numbers.
Of the 161 students who have completed the program, the recidivism rate is zero compared with the expected 40-60% rate. According to the Televerde Foundation, graduates' salaries are also 61-75% higher than their less-prepared counterparts.
Dorothy Hall is currently an inmate at Perryville serving a three-year sentence. She's expected to be released in the coming months.
"What led me to be here was a very unfortunate series of poor decisions," Hall said. "Some were small, some were big. I do have a history of substance abuse. I got sober, I'm going on three years now."
Hall is also a mom of two young children. When she got to Perryville, she said, she wanted her time in prison to mean something.
"When I came to prison, I was in the middle of a [Department of Child Safety] case with my children and because of the length of my sentence, they were going to sever my rights," she said. "That's why I came in with that drive to do all the programming, so when I literally did every program that [Department of Corrections] offers and I sent in my certificates, it still wasn't enough [for her rights not to be severed]."
Not to mention, Hall said, the programs that were offered through DOC, while helpful to correct problems from the past, like addiction and mental health, didn't address the future and what comes on the other side of prison time.
Then, she heard about Televerde's PATHS program and decided to give it a shot.
Students have presentations, papers, homework, reading, and exams, just like traditional college classes. The classes are taught by an ASU professor in person at the prison.
But, Televerde Workforce Manager Yolanda Ewing said they also help the women in the program learn their own worth.
"It's where you are now, presently, and speak to that. Speak to that experience, that work experience, that you have had in here and own it and go in that room and let them know you are just as valuable as anyone else," Ewing said.
Televerde Executive Director Michelle Cirocco said she believes education is the great equalizer.
"Many have never had a first chance, or many have blown [sic] what chances they had," Cirocco said. "They go through life feeling like, I'm not good enough. I'm not worthy. Nobody in my family has ever gotten this kind of an education...When they have a job, and they're able to take care of themselves, then they don't ever have to go back to prison."
That's the goal for Hall, who's also a Teacher's Assistant in her current cohort.
"I'm up to 110 certificates right now and I just kept bombarding DCS with my achievements and my goals and my changed behavior and my determination to do everything possible and they have now decided to not sever my rights," Hall said. "I get to get out and I get to go be a mom. I get to go home to my children...It means that the time I have to spend away from them being here, I've made it worth it because now I can go home and be something better for them."
But, Hall said, there's a change that needs to happen outside of the prison walls, too.
"Something I would like to see change is acceptance of us in the work industry, given that second chance."
Ewing agrees.
"They did the work, they made the investment, they don't need to be judged twice," she said. "They just need an opportunity to prove."
According to Televerde, more than 81,000 women are released from prison each year.
The foundation also said women are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population yet have access to fewer services than incarcerated men.
They also face unique challenges after release. Women tend to be the primary breadwinner and caregiver and urgently need stable, good-paying employment. But the road to economic stability is more complicated than just skills training. It requires self-confidence, resilience, and the community support necessary to overcome obstacles.
"When they come out of prison, they have not just the skills and the education, but they have the confidence and the courage and the ability to walk into any organization and feel like they belong there, and that they've earned that seat at the table and be successful in their job," Cirocco said. "We're just really excited about the impact that this has not just on the women, but on their children, on their families. And, I guess, ultimately, you know, in the communities where we all live because when we can keep people out of prison, and they can reunite with their families. That makes it a better place for all of us."
Televerde Foundation is always looking for donations, volunteers, and sponsors for its programs. Learn more by visiting their website.
