By: AIF Staff
In 2018, following years of bipartisan collaboration and consensus-building, Speaker Paul Ryan signed The First Step Act into law. This legislation, which united the left and the right, modernized our criminal justice system by reforming federal sentencing guidelines and establishing programs to help individuals reacclimate to their communities following interactions with America’s prison system.
But, as the name implies, this legislation was only a “first step” and with over 2 million Americans currently in jail, prison, probation, and parole, the task of effectively reducing recidivism has never been more important. And as policymakers and community leaders help individuals re-enter society and rebuild their lives, they should continue taking an evidence-based approach to reducing recidivism.
Speaker Ryan has long believed that “good policy begins with good evidence.” It’s why, in academic works like Rethinking Reentry, he has encouraged lawmakers to take a methodical, circumspect approach towards reducing recidivism. It’s also why he has consistently supported those front-line organizations who are applying evidence-based solutions to re-entry programs.
In 2023, one of the groups that Ryan’s American Idea Foundation will be partnering with is the Wisconsin Inmate Education Association. The WIEA is focused on helping men and women incarcerated in the Wisconsin prison system transform their lives through the completion of an in-prison college curriculum which provides them with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies.
WIEA’s rationale is straightforward: By encouraging inmates to embrace an alternative identity centered around faith and education, WIEA believes their intervention will lower levels of misconduct, stimulate spiritual transformations, and improve families and communities by changing behaviors for the better. WIEA’s approachis evidence-based and they measure success by looking at factors like personal transformation, levels of violence, community and family impact, and overall recidivism reduction.
To qualify for WIEA’s degree program, inmates must complete a rigorous application process detailing their academic history and criminal behaviors while also passing a Department of Corrections’ screening process. Up until this year, upon acceptance into the program, students would be transferred to Waupun Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison.
They would then attend a full week of orientation and attend classes 7 hours per day, 5 days per week. After four years, they would receive a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Trinity International University. Following graduation, they would serve as Field Mentors to help promote the program within the prison population and to serve other inmates.
This year, the Wisconsin Inmate Education Association moved their program to the Fox Lake Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison, and the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, which houses female inmates. WIEA believes that by conducting this program at medium-security facilities as opposed to a maximum-security prison, more individuals will take part and its impact will grow.
WIEA is looking to double the number of enrolled students in the next year and, in the process, they will not only transform the lives of people inside our correctional facilities but also improve the Wisconsin communities these individuals will ultimately re-enter.
WIEA’s approach – expanding opportunities for incarcerated individuals who are trying to learn from their mistakes and doing so in an evidence-based way – will hopefully show a path forward to meaningfully reduce recidivism, strengthen our communities, and increase respect for the rule of law. It’s why Speaker Ryan is so excited to partner with WIEA as their efforts expand throughout the state.