NCJ Number
168832
Journal
American Jails Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: March/April 1996 Pages: 66-68
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Read Out Program (ROP) in Sacramento County (California) jails provides educational opportunities matched to inmate needs, with measured educational progress used to reduce incarceration time.
Abstract
The program begins at intake, when inmates are screened by the booking officers with elementary screening devices designed to target inmates with either literacy deficiencies or low levels of educational attainment. All inmates are advised of the Read Out Program during their orientation, and those inmates targeted by the program are recruited by the education staff to gauge their desire to participate. An inmate must have a minimum 30-day sentence. By participating in the program, inmates may earn early releases under a formula that tailors the amount of reduced time to educational attainment (maximum reduction of 20 days). ROP is divided into five categories: the G.E.D./High School Education Program, the Literacy Program, Personal Growth Courses, Vocational Education Program, and the Job Readiness and Job Placement Program. The program's development involved three critical factors: judicial sanction; the link between academic improvement and the time reduced in the sentence; and the involvement of the educational system, the judicial system, and law enforcement agencies.