Prison officials know that finding work after being released from prison is difficult, but necessary, for a law-abiding future. To help inmates find suitable work that pays a living wage, officials are currently resorting to unique vocational training programs.

The Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla offers inmates just such an unusual vocational training option.  Instead of working in laundromats or welding shops, inmates at this facility can earn certification in the manufacture of dental prostheses.  The first wave of inmates completed phase one of the training process in October, and prison officials are pleased with the results: all 32 trainees passed their examinations.

"By providing inmates with marketable technical skills, we're offering them a chance to succeed," said Frank Losco, chief of public affairs at the California Prison Industry Authority (PIA).

The Chowchilla facility built a dental lab in 1992 to provide dental prosthesis to the 164,000 adult inmates incarcerated in California.

"We knew there was a regular need for the service, so we plugged into the need," said Losco.

As part of the Inmate Employability Program developed by the California PIA, the Chowchilla facility recently added a new dimension to the program by training inmates to make the dental prosthesis.  Now, not only does the facility provide prostheses to California inmates, but it also offers Chowchilla inmates useful and unusual vocational training.

"The dental technician training course helps us address the need for inmate dental services while also providing vocational training to inmates," said Losco.

This program is also distinct from many other inmate programs across the United States because it receives no funding from the legislature, said Losco. Instead, the dental lab finances itself through sales of the inmates' products and services. 

In addition to providing a necessary service to California corrections facilities without draining state funds, the program offers Chowchilla inmates a new career path and, according to Losco, a new direction in life. 

"There's a real need for these skills. By taking advantage of this need, inmates can obtain gainful employment after parole," said Losco.

Citing improved occupational skills, teamwork, and effective work habits, Losco said the program will increase inmates' chances of securing jobs.  After completing the training course, inmates and staff members work together to create resumes and find jobs. 

"We try to work with both inmates and the industry to help them transition before they leave.  Because we help them in this way, inmates often go on to lead productive and successful lives," he said. 

Showing Improvement

While the overall California parole revocation rate is 59.30 percent, Losco cited a revocation rate of 12.57 percent among inmates in industry accredited certification programs.  Losco said he expects similar success from the dental technician program.

The transition to employment among graduates of Chowchilla's new program is made easier by the fact that the dental industry is under-supplied with trained laboratory technicians, said John Ness, CEO of Productivity Training Corporation, which partnered with the California PIA to institute the training program. 

"Our training provides the qualifications for an individual to launch into this career path.  Students who complete the full training program gain the skill set to work as dental laboratory technicians in all areas of manufacturing from metal design and fabrication to creating dentures," he said.

A dental technician himself, Ness designed the training program after realizing that there was no standard methodology available to prospective technicians.  "In education, I found difficulty getting people to apply what they had learned," Ness said.  In response to this problem, he developed a training program that uses an interactive, multimedia instruction.

Through tutoring, printed course guides, and instruction on DVD, Ness' program reaches trainees visually, orally, and through the written word, ensuring that all types of learners can succeed.  In addition, by presenting the same material again and again in different mediums, trainees learn by repetition. 

"Repetition makes certainty," said Ness.  "By teaching something repeatedly, you get results."

After training, inmates are tested over the phone.  By asking inmates to simply walk through the knowledge they have already repeated dozens of times before, trainees are calmer and perform much better, said Ness.  Additionally, by testing trainees in a non-threatening manner and offering them encouragement during the testing process, Ness sees a significant increase in the number of students to pass.

"This was the missing link in education.  Real skills are based on someone being able to do something with confidence and self esteem," said Ness.

All 32 inmates in the program passed this October, earning a training verification certificate in posterior anatomy.  The trainees will continue their training for several months, earning two additional certificates in anatomy/physiology and technical training/producing dentures.

When the first class of trainees received their certification in posterior dental anatomy, Losco was struck by the inmates' emotional reactions.  "If you could see the excitement of the inmates... you would think they were just released from prison.  A few were near tears," Losco said.

"One gal said this had been a blessing for her," he said.  "This was a woman who's obviously been challenged, and now she's been given a chance."