Building Bridges, Dismantling Systems: James Monteiro Talks Education And Incarceration

Sonic Watermelons

Original Episode Title: Back to School with James Monteiro *** Original Episode Date: Tuesday, August 9, 2016 *** Name of Guest(s): James Monteiro *** Original Episode Summary: The stores are stocked with notebooks, pens, and backpacks. The flyers are hitting our newspapers and stuffed in our mailboxes. If you have a kid in your house, they are probably scrambling to get that summer reading finished (started?) and dreading the start of a new school year. Back to School means something a little different for tonight's guest though. James Monteiro runs the Prison Bridge Program through College Unbound. We're going to spend our time talking about the program, it's impact on the students who participate, and the fellowship that James was awarded to keep his work going. Get your #2 pencils out and join us for another amazing hour of Sonic Watermelons. *** Contact Info for Guest: www.collegeunbound.org *** More Info About the Guest, Topics and/or Podcast: A lot has been said about the school to prison pipeline. On Tuesday, August 9, 2016, Sonic Watermelons joined the conversation (again) by speaking with James Monteiro, the founder of the Prison Bridge Program through College Unbound. Monteiro’s organization assists individuals who are currently incarcerated and recently released from prison who are trying to obtain their post-secondary education - with the overarching goal of reducing recidivism. Just recently hitting a one-year anniversary, the Prison Bridge Program, says Monteiro, serves 80 students who are currently serving sentences and 14 students who have been released. Though they are unable to award degrees to incarcerated individuals, the program is able to offer up to 12 college credits for free to those inmates. In addition, the Prison Bridge Program can help students apply for college, find jobs, and connect to substance abuse counseling. More than just an education, the Prison Bridge Program offers a network for former prisoners who want to improve their lives and support their families. Monteiro, as a formerly incarcerated person, has a unique perspective on the power of education to transform a life. However, he also knows the statistics, like those shared in a 2013 study from the Rand Corporation, “a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.” Among their findings is that inmates who participate in correctional education programs had a “43 percent lower odds of recidivating than those who did not.” Previous legislation that effectively eliminated the opportunity for incarcerated individuals to obtain Pell Grants, the costs to incarcerate men and women in RI, and the way to get started if you were recently or are currently incarcerated: these are all additional topics discussed during the August 9, 2016 conversation with James Monteiro and highlighted in Building Bridges, Dismantling Systems: James Monteiro Talks Education And Incarceration on Sonic Watermelons (The Podcast). To access the Rand Corporation study, www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html. *** Audio from the podcast also comes from: The Sonic Watermelons / Reza Rites Archive: “Problems with Private Prisons and Students Against the Prison Industrial Complex: New Podcasts from Reza Rites and Sonic Watermelons” - http://bit.ly/2cvoMaD Mighty Mystic, Concrete World - www.mightymystic.com - https://youtu.be/OWUT7YCXWEA *** Sonic Watermelons Contact Info: www.bsrlive.com venussings.wordpress.com Facebook: @sonicwatermelons Twitter: @WatermelonRadio Soundcloud: @sonicwatermelons iTunes: “sonic watermelons” *** Sonic Staff & Volunteers Reza Clifton Deejay Kellan Jessica LaBrie