Spur Successful Rehabilitation, Reentry, & Reintegration

Today,  Governor Andrew Cuomo and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced a $7.3 million investment in college level education and reentry services in NY prisons, creating more than 2,500 seats for college level education and training for incarcerated New Yorkers

With this investment, Governor Cuomo and DA Vance offer a real opportunity for thousands to set their lives on the right course. We must make rehabilitation and reintegration into society the fundamental benchmarks for success of our corrections system. New York took a step forward with Raise the Age earlier this year, and this investment in education takes a further step towards a system with the wisdom and foresight to offer a life-changing ladder to success.

Instead of serving as universities of crime, this investment partners education in prisons with universities like Cornell, NYU, and distinguished community and liberal arts colleges across New York.  We should resolve to make this just one step along a much longer path to remaking our prisons into institutions that yield productive members of society - formerly incarcerated individuals who are capable of providing for their families, supporting and caring for the communities they call home. Their success is our success.