Inmate education has always been a priority for the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff's Office (HCSO).  Now, it has national certification to prove it.

Nearly a year and a half ago, the Sheriff's Office set out to meet the Correctional Education Association's standards for educating offenders.  The agency's hard work paid off last July when its Inmate Education Program received CEA certification, becoming the first county jail system in the country to receive the organization's official seal of approval.

"We are the first and only county jail that is nationally certified," said Captain Jim Albers, who oversees the Inmate Affairs Division of the Sheriff's Office.  "It added a legitimacy to our program that is unparalleled in local county sheriffs' departments."

The Harris County Inmate Education program began nearly 30 years ago as a partnership between the Sheriff's Office and Houston Community College (HCC)-Northeast.  Today, the program enrolls about 3,500 inmate-students per year, making it one of the college's largest departments, Albers said.

While the program instructors hail from HCC, the HCSO employs a director, assistant director and security personnel for the program.  The agency also provides classroom space, including a multi-million dollar vocational training facility that was constructed in 2000.

Through the Inmate Education Program, offenders can takes courses ranging from Adult Basic Education (ABE), which teaches them literacy and math skills, to GED preparation courses.  Additionally, they can take a Workplace Literacy course, focused on life skills training and maintaining steady employment, and various Workforce Training classes, which prepare offenders for a job in a vocational profession after they are released.

Skills to Succeed

According to Albers, each vocational training course lasts for 11 weeks and, upon successful completion, offenders receive a certificate that they can use to help them gain employment when they return to the community.  Inmates can earn certificates in different vocations, he said, including heating and refrigeration, graphic arts, cooking, construction, welding, sewing, horticulture, upholstery, auto body and building maintenance.

Inmates, who attend classes five days each week for six hours a day, can earn certificates in more than one trade, depending on how long they are incarcerated at the jail, Albers pointed out. 

"If you are there long enough, you can take a second course in something else," Albers said.

According to Albers, one inmate has progressed through a series of cooking courses and is now considered to be an "advanced-level student."

"He has basically made himself a chef," Albers said, pointing out that he has developed the skills to work as a chef in a high-end restaurant when he is released from incarceration.

County Benefits

While the program benefits the inmates, who have job training that will help them obtain employment in the community, some of the work they do in their vocational courses helps the county save money, too.

According to Albers, inmates in the apholstery course reapholster furniture for the Sheriff's Office as they learn the trade.  Also, offenders in the program's offset printing course provide full printing services to the county at low rates.

The program is a win-win for both the county and the inmates, Albers said.  But it has become even stronger with CEA certification, he added.

"It shows people that [we] are serious about [inmate] education and we are providing certificates to inmates for their training and education that mean something," he said.

Seeking Certification

But, while the agency is proud of meeting CEA's standards and becoming certified, it was not an easy task, Albers said.

The pieces for a solid inmate education program were already pretty much in place in Harris County, but it still took almost a year for the Sheriff's Office to prepare for CEA to come in and do an inspection, Albers explained.

"We got the standards from the CEA [and], basically, we were doing most of the stuff that they wanted us to do [already], but we just didn't keep the records," Albers said.  "They wanted proof that [we] were doing it."

In response, the HCSO created a variety of different forms, which it began requiring employees to fill out and keep.  The paperwork, Albers said, was created for the purpose of keeping track of activity in the Inmate Education Program to demonstrate to CEA that it was meeting each of the organization's nearly 70 standards, which include maintaining records of student/teacher ratios on site, having a policies and procedures manual and publicly displaying a clear statement of program goals for staff, students and others.

"When we felt like we had a handle on it, we contacted the CEA and we got inspected," Albers said.

One of the greatest challenges for the jail in its quest to acquire certification was the fact that the county is dealing with a transient inmate population, Albers said.  In a state prison system, he added, the inmates are incarcerated for much longer, making it easy to keep track of them and maintain records.

"There's an ebb and flow of inmates in and out [of our jail]," Albers said.  "In our system, there's movement every week [and], actually, the CEA had to adjust their guidelines a little bit to make up for some of its movement."

But, despite, the difficulties the HCSO faced due to its frequent inmate turnover, the agency was still able to earn CEA certification, which is a great accomplishment, Albers said.

"[The HCSO is] nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) as a patrol agency.  To have this second crown from the CEA was important to our sheriff," he said.  "We are a very large agency and we try to be the best of the best."

Resources:

Capt. Jim Albers (713) 755-8415