For the inmates of Travis County Correctional Complex, their current life behind bars not only prevents them from acquiring higher education and new skills in the present, but often chains them down from moving on to a new chapter of their lives in the future. Even after serving their sentence, in a rapidly evolving technology-centered workforce, many ex-cons find themselves without the resources or skillset to adjust to a world that looks vastly different than the one they knew. This February marks the conclusion of Austin Community College (ACC) and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office’s (TCSO) first collaboration together, entailing the creation of a curriculum for current inmates to develop the necessary technological skills needed to thrive in a digital world.
“I always wanted to create a pathway for students of all backgrounds to have another avenue to enter into higher education,” Chair of the Technology Department of ACC Professor Deborah Benavidez said. “Through [working with our continuing education department] we started looking at which populations could really benefit [from this new opportunity]. A goal I’ve always wanted was to uplift incarcerated populations, and this project was the perfect chance.”
After proposing the idea to the TCSO, both parties were eager to get started, and determined that the Travis County Correctional Complex should be the first place to implement the new program.
“One of the greatest challenges many in our care and custody face is a lack of education. We have programs that allow them to earn their General Education Development (GED) Diploma, but in today’s modern workplace, it’s not enough to simply have a high school diploma or GED,” TCSO Sheriff Sally Hernandez said. “So [when ACC] asked for a meeting about a year ago, it only took minutes for me to get excited about [their program’s concept] and join the collaborative process.”
Along the way, TCSO and ACC discovered that they had to renovate the existing ACC curriculum to meet the safety constraints and parameters dictated by law. These renovations included regulations regarding internet and time restrictions, allowing the program to be restructured in order to provide incarcerated individuals a chance to be students again.
“Everything we usually work with [at ACC] is online. So we had to redesign all of our curriculum so that we could instruct without using the internet for security purposes,” Professor Benavidez said. “We had to build from the ground up, redesign courses, and go the notebook route, [as well as] use open education resources to find learning materials.”
When the program was introduced, it was met with immediate popularity, with a waitlist of eager participants soon being formed. The collaboration didn’t just focus on providing technological skills to incarcerated individuals, but also on fostering a supportive community and creating pathways forward.
“[The seven who stayed throughout the entire program] not only graduated, but now have a plan of action for what they [want] to do when they are released. One is studying to become a paralegal, [and] another student who was released is now in the workforce,” Professor Benavidez said. “They’ve built up a network with each other as well. [Throughout the program] they became each other’s advocates, built each other up, encouraged each other, and it led to them actually building self confidence in themselves. It helped them reshape their outlook and think, ‘Hey, there’s other options out there!’”
At a time where education is becoming more expensive and a requirement for higher paying jobs, the TCSO is excited to see the students enter a new stage of their lives, equipped with the skills to succeed.
“We will never see the greatest takeaways from this program. When this program is successful, we will never see the students again — and that’s our goal!” Sheriff Hernandez said. “We believe the education they receive in the program will equip them to have good jobs and support their families in ways that are completely different [from] the choices that led to incarceration.”
Within incarcerated communities, it has been observed by many that the ability to properly communicate their situations to outsiders has been a challenge, especially with the rapid modernization of the digital sphere being viewed as another barrier to adaptation. But, Professor Benavidez views the development of messaging programs like email as a needed asset for growing society, and emphasizes the importance of the program’s incorporation of teaching such skills.
“Email us! Reaching out to us is the best way [to help develop an action plan] because we don’t know how you need to be supported unless you’re there to tell us,” Professor Benavidez said. “I encourage anybody who’s interested, even if it’s not for my program but another one, to reach out. I’m always available to talk with individuals and get them into the hands that they need to be.”
Many high-school students, often observed to be pressured by thoughts of the future, are relieved to hear that even in the worst circumstances, people can get another opportunity for growth.
“The collaboration sounds like a good way to provide a safe space for inmates to better themselves without making anyone feel uncomfortable,” Elana Xiao ‘27 said. “I strongly believe in second chances and am happy that the incarcerated can improve their lives even before they re-enter the world.”
While future programs need much more coordination of logistics, such as further funding and more staff to teach a greater number of inmates, both ACC and TCSO are committed to this cause. They plan to create more programs along similar principles for the future, in order to open the door to further valuable opportunities for inmates.
“We want them to dream big, and achieve beyond what they ever thought they were capable of,” Sheriff Hernandez said.
