"This is possibly the first time we've ever followed through with something," said Jeremy Lee Bobeda, who received a vocational certificate in electronics while serving time for sexual abuse of a minor. "Hopefully this causes a change in our attitudes to become an asset in society and provide a better life for our families."
But the number of programs providing prisoners with degrees, which officials argue helps keep them from reoffending, keeps shrinking.
The Department of Corrections this year sought $1.5 million from lawmakers to maintain educational programs in the two prisons and more than 20 participating jails. The amount appropriated: $150,000.
Programs at Utah State University, which provided one of the most prominent occupational training programs at the Draper and Gunnison prisons and three county jails, were cut last year. The 97 inmates enrolled either quit or were transferred to another site, said USU's Tooele registration coordinator, Karie Jackson.
Dixie Applied Technology College in the Purgatory Correctional Facility discontinued the women's clerical and men's CAD and building construction/construction management programs last year, and culinary programs are expected to end this year because of lack of funding.
Waiting lists for classes are also getting longer, influencing the number of inmates graduating each year, said Corrections Director Tom Patterson.
Administrators such as Mark Bradford, USU program director at the San Juan County Jail, are scrambling to find creative ways to save money. There, two inmates share one textbook.
Prisoners, who on average earn 40 cents an hour through work programs, pay $88 or $100 each semester to take online or televised classes. Participating colleges make up the difference between the reduced prison tuition and regular fees.
Reviving classes would benefit both inmates and the community, said Patterson.
The 37 inmates who received degrees from USU while the program was running did not return to jail after they were released, Patterson said. Overall, 27 percent of inmates projected to reoffend do not once they have completed some level of education, said Jeff Galli, corrections education specialist at the Utah State Office of Education.
Education saves money in the long run, too, Galli said. The state saves $11 for every $1 spent in prison education, a total of $27 million in savings, he said. Education programs also boost inmates' abilities to make the right choices and find employment, which is contagious among prisoners, Bradford said.
"They turn around and teach others in their cells and help non-students who say, 'If this guy can do it, then I can too.' They are role models." Bradford said. "Plus a lot of the time, this is people's second or third chance in school. [For] some of them, it's their first time in school."
Scott Rainford, who earned an architectural technology certificate, said graduating from the two-year program encouraged him to be role model. His mother, Anita Rainford, said he was the first child in the family to graduate from college.
"It's big accomplishment," said Rainford, behind bars for kidnapping, sexual assault and attempted murder. "It's been something that has given me knowledge, and knowledge gives me freedom and they can't take that away."
Rainford said he would like to pursue a job in design engineering. He becomes eligible for parole in 2029.
Additional graduations are scheduled for June 4 when more than 100 inmates will receive high school diplomas from South Park Academy, which is run by the South Jordan School District.
abreton@sltrib.com
