Education is key to keeping inmates from re-offending

YAKIMA -- On a typical day, John Dickey and others can be seen working on a bank of computers studying anything from basic algebra to American history.

But Dickey and 25 others are anything but typical students here at Ahtanum View Corrections Center, a minimum security prison on the edge of Yakima.

They are among 2,421 state prisoners enrolled in adult basic education programs intended to reduce the roughly one-third rate of inmates who end up back in prison after being released.

With a total of 125 inmates, Ahtanum View isn't your typical prison facility either.

The prison's top floors can feel more like a hospital or nursing home with long narrow hallways and doors wide open on each side. Peering inside you can see a patient on the thin bed sleeping, or you may catch someone reading a book.

Many offenders are brought there for medical reasons, including the state's oldest offender, now in his mid-90s. Others, including Dickey, are sent to help clean, cook and otherwise maintain the facility at 64th and Washington avenues.

Lack of skills

Preparing offenders for release and keeping them from returning is the primary goal at Ahtanum View, says Dan Ferguson, the facility's director of the education program.

"A lot of offenders don't have the skills they need to succeed upon re-entry (into society)," said Mike Paris, Education Services administrator for the Washington State Department of Corrections. "But if they gain the skills necessary and if they succeed, they won't come back (to prison)."

The education program "fits in with the governor's and the Department of Correction's plan to cut down on re-entry. Statistically it shows that the more education someone has, the less likely it is for them to continue a life of crime," said the facility's superintendent, Terry Antles.

One-third of the state's approximately 15,535 prisoners lack a high school diploma or a GED -- which explains why about half those now in the adult basic education program at Ahtanum View are preparing to take the GED test.

The state Department of Corrections says 37 percent of offenders released in 2000 returned to prison within five years. It also estimates that of the 3,576 offenders released in 2006, 41 percent will return to prison in the next five years.

But according to the nonpartisan Washington State Institute for Public Policy, basic education programs cut recidivism rates by 7 percent. That could translate to about 250 fewer offenders returning in the next five years.

That may not seem like a big difference, but consider it costs the state $29,000 to incarcerate one person a year and only $962 to educate the average offender.

"It's like an investment. We'll invest some of the money now that will mean a certain number don't re-enter prison," Paris said. "If we don't do something, we'll have more people come back and have to build new prisons, and one prison can be around $250 million."

The state now spends $17 million on education at its 15 facilities statewide. Ahtanum View receives just $127,000, based on its relatively small prisoner population.

Paris said Ahtanum does a good job with what little money is available, and the students seem to agree.

The gateway

Before being convicted in his late 20s of selling drugs, Dickey was in and out of juvenile facilities.

"I didn't go to prison until I was 28," Dickey said. "It just all catches up with you. And I became more of a user."

With only two months left on his sentence, Dickey is preparing for the math portion of the GED exam. He's been studying for the past nine months, and if he passes, he will have acquired his GED.

Also studying for a GED is Johnny Rhoades, 50, who has been in and out of prison his entire life, mostly for forgery and identity theft. He believes the classes will open doors for him.

"Education is the gateway to longevity and success," Rhoades said.

Both not only share the same classroom, but the same paths that led here. Neither was interested in school while growing up. As an adolescent, Dickey moved around a lot, never finished a grade at the same school, and grew uninterested. Rhoades was raised in Richmond, Calif., where he said he felt racial discrimination and saw teachers pay more attention to other students than kids like him.

However, neither blame anyone but themselves. They believe education is the key to breaking the cycle.

"All the stuff I had wasn't really mine cause I didn't earn it the right way, and I ended up losing it all," Dickey said. "But what I've learned (at Ahtanum View) is something no one can take away from me."

Just one teacher

Under the current budget, Ferguson is the facility's only instructor. But he's had an impact on the lives and minds of his students.

"I wish I would have had someone like Mr. Ferguson when I was younger to stress education," Rhoades said. "And to continue on no matter who's oppressing you."

Ferguson builds his schedule around the offenders and runs three class sessions a day, focusing on keeping a positive attitude throughout the learning process.

"I try to create a climate where education is valued and create a culture where offenders get excited about learning," Ferguson said.

Dickey, who hasn't used drugs in two years, wants to remain in Yakima and attend Perry Technical Institute and learn collision repair, and work on automobiles like he was before he was incarcerated.

Rhoades, who will take the GED exam in June and be released in December, wants to attend a community college and eventually a four-year university to become a youth counselor.

"Kids got to know that anyone can talk, but you have to show them that you have to do," Rhoades said. "I want to show them that instead of spending your time in prison, you can get your education and at the end it's yours."

And though both men learned life's lessons the hard way for most of their lives, both realize that it's never too late to make up for lost time.

"You're never to young or never too old to get an education," Rhoades said. "You have to learn how to make good choices, cause that'll lead to a good life."

* Marqise Allen can be reached at 577-7630 or mallen@yakimaherald.com.

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