S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1398
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. AUBRY -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Correction
 
 AN ACT to establish a commission on post-secondary  correctional  educa-
   tion;  and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration
   thereof
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
 the availability of post-secondary correctional education has the poten-
 tial  to reduce recidivism, increase employment opportunities for incar-
 cerated individual upon release and have a  positive  impact  on  prison
 safety  and  security.  The  legislature  further  finds  that  there is
 currently a lack of available post-secondary  educational  opportunities
 for incarcerated individuals in the New York state prison system.
   Studies have consistently found that the higher the level of education
 attained,  the  more  likely a former incarcerated individual will be to
 obtain gainful and stable employment, and the less likely he or she will
 be to engage in future criminal  activity.  However,  in  1994,  federal
 tuition  assistance,  in the form of Pell Grants, for individuals incar-
 cerated in federal and state correctional facilities was terminated with
 the enactment of the Violent Crime  Control  and  Law  Enforcement  Act.
 Then, in 1995, New York prohibited incarcerated individuals from access-
 ing  state  funds through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for post-
 secondary correctional education.  According to a  report  published  by
 the  Correctional  Association  of  New  York in January, 2009, entitled
 "Education From the  Inside,  Out:  The  Multiple  Benefits  of  College
 Programs in Prison," only four out of seventy post-secondary correction-
 al  education  programs  continued  to operate in New York following the
 termination of TAP availability for incarcerated individuals.
   According to the Correctional Association of New York report,  statis-
 tical  evidence  from  several highly regarded studies demonstrates that
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03927-01-3
              

 A. 1398                             2
 
 college programming in prison is a highly  effective  tool  in  reducing
 recidivism.  For  example, the report cites a 1991 study released by New
 York's department of correctional services that found incarcerated indi-
 viduals  who earned a degree while incarcerated had a 26.4 percent reci-
 divism rate whereas 44.6 percent of participants  who  did  not  earn  a
 degree  were  returned  to custody. The report cites another influential
 study, published in 2004,  "Post-Secondary  Correctional  Education  and
 Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis of Research Conducted 1990-1999," that found
 incarcerated individuals who participated in post-secondary correctional
 education  programs recidivated 22 percent of the time and those who did
 not participate had a recidivism rate of 41 percent.  Further,  the  New
 York  state commission on sentencing reform recently reported that post-
 secondary correctional education programs  have  been  shown  to  reduce
 recidivism  by  up to 40% and the commission recommended that more post-
 secondary educational opportunities be made  available  to  incarcerated
 individuals.
   The  Correctional  Association  of  New  York report also asserts that
 in-prison college programs are  a  cost-effective  method  of  improving
 public safety. The report states that "the cost differences in education
 versus incarceration in New York, plus the short- and long-term benefits
 of  a  better  educated population, makes investment in higher education
 for incarcerated individuals and people in the  community  smart  fiscal
 policy."  The report cites one cost-benefit analysis that found the cost
 to a state per crime prevented by  offering  education  to  incarcerated
 individuals  is  about  $1,600  while  the  cost  per crime prevented by
 extending prison sentences is $2,800. In other words, according  to  the
 study,  a  $1 million investment in incarceration will prevent about 350
 crimes, while that same investment in education will prevent  more  than
 600  crimes  meaning  that correctional education may be almost twice as
 cost-effective as incarceration.
   In addition, research suggests that post-secondary programs in  prison
 can provide incarcerated individuals with an incentive for good behavior
 and  greatly enhance an incarcerated individual's problem-solving skills
 thereby reducing tension and violent interactions  between  incarcerated
 individuals  and  staff and among incarcerated individuals.  Reportedly,
 incarcerated individuals who attend post-secondary  educational  classes
 are  among  the  best-behaved  of the incarcerated individual population
 because there is a strong incentive to avoid conduct that  could  result
 in discipline and a loss of credit for the college program.
   Despite  the  potential benefits of post-secondary correctional educa-
 tion programs, only a relatively  small  number  of  programs  currently
 operate  in  the  New  York  state prisons funded mostly through private
 sources, federal grants for youth offenders or through small legislative
 initiative grants.
   § 2. A temporary state commission, to be known as the New  York  state
 commission   on   post-secondary   correctional  education,  hereinafter
 referred to as the commission, is hereby created to  examine,  evaluate,
 and  make recommendations concerning the availability, effectiveness and
 need for expansion of post-secondary education in  the  New  York  state
 prison  system.  The  issues  to  be  considered by the commission shall
 include, but not be limited to, the following:
   a. the benefits of post-secondary correctional education in  improving
 public safety by reducing recidivism;
   b. the impact of post-secondary correctional education on an incarcer-
 ated individual's employment opportunities upon release from prison;
 A. 1398                             3
 
   c. the impact of post-secondary correctional education on an incarcer-
 ated individuals reintegration into society upon release from prison;
   d.  the  cost  savings, if any, associated with reduced recidivism and
 the successful reintegration of  released  incarcerated  individual  who
 have participated in post-secondary correctional education;
   e. the impact of post-secondary correctional education on prison safe-
 ty and security;
   f. the need, if any, to expand post-secondary correctional educational
 programs  in  the  New York state prison system and the costs associated
 with such an expansion; and
   g. recommendations for funding options, including but not  limited  to
 the  Tuition  Assistance  Program, to increase the availability of post-
 secondary correctional education in the New York state prison system.
   § 3. The commission shall consist of fifteen members, to be  appointed
 as  follows:  four  members shall be appointed by the governor and shall
 include the commissioner of the department of correctional services, and
 one member each from the division of parole, the  division  of  criminal
 justice services and the New York state higher education services corpo-
 ration;  six members, with three appointments by the temporary president
 of the senate and three by the speaker of the assembly, shall be  repre-
 sentatives  of private providers of post-secondary education services in
 New York state prisons, criminal justice advocates, and academic profes-
 sionals; one member shall be appointed by the  minority  leader  of  the
 senate;  and one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
 assembly. The remaining members shall be the chancellor, or his  or  her
 designee,  of the city university of New York, the chancellor, or his or
 her designee, of the state university of New York and  the  commissioner
 of the state department of education. The commission shall be co-chaired
 by the commissioner of the state department of correctional services and
 the  commissioner  of the state department of education. The vice-chair-
 person of the commission shall be a representative of one of the private
 providers of post-secondary  education  services  as  appointed  by  the
 chairpersons.  Vacancies  in  the  membership of the commission shall be
 filled in the manner provided for original appointments.
   § 4. The members of the commission shall receive no  compensation  for
 their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses
 incurred  in  the  performance of their duties hereunder. To the maximum
 extent feasible, the commission shall be entitled to request and receive
 and shall utilize and be provided with such facilities,  resources,  and
 data  of  any court, department, division, board, bureau, commission, or
 agency of the state or any political subdivision  thereof  as  it  deems
 necessary or desirable to carry out properly its powers and duties here-
 under.
   §  5.  For the accomplishment of its purposes, the commission shall be
 authorized and empowered to undertake any studies, inquiries, surveys or
 analyses it may deem relevant in cooperation with or by  agreement  with
 any  other  public or private agency. The commission shall meet and hold
 public hearings or private meetings within or  without  the  state,  and
 shall  have  all  the  powers of a legislative committee pursuant to the
 legislative law.
   § 6. The commission shall make a report of its findings, including any
 recommendations for legislative action as  it  may  deem  necessary  and
 appropriate, to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the
 speaker  of  the  assembly,  the  chairperson of the senate committee on
 crime victims, crime and correction and the chairperson of the  assembly
 A. 1398                             4
 
 committee  on correction no later than one year after the effective date
 of this act.
   §  7.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
 deemed repealed one year after such effective date;  provided  that  the
 appointment  of  members to the New York state commission on post-secon-
 dary correctional education shall be completed within sixty days of such
 effective date.