Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 4, 1993 TAG: 9304040118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
WRITING ON THE WALL: READ OR ELSE
Although it hasn't lived up to its catchy "No Read, No Release" nickname, state officials believe a seven-year-old literacy program has achieved its goal of preparing inmates for life after parole.Inmates who enter prison with less than eighth-grade reading skills can earn the maximum good-time allowance - 30 days credit for every 30 days served - by participating in the Literacy Incentive Program.
They also get top prison pay of 35 cents an hour, and their progress is one of many factors considered by the parole board.
The program is voluntary, but prison officials make it clear: refuse to participate, and chances of being paroled are remote. That ultimatum led to the program's nickname.
"It was sort of a misnomer," said Clarence Jackson, chairman of the parole board. "It was never intended to be `No Read, No Release.' The initiative was to make it a clear incentive for those who are eligible to participate and to strive for improvement."
In that regard, program coordinator Lanett Brailey said, the program has succeeded. A Few eligible inmates decline to participate. And while there has been no study of how the graduates fare after parole, Brailey believes the program is having a positive impact.
"We're trying to help the students make the transition into society and raise their level of educational competence," she said. "If that helps to change some patterns of behavior so they will not end up in a correctional facility again, that's an extremely important variable."
Jackson said it would be difficult to prove that participation in the program helps prevent parolees from returning to prison. There are too many other factors that also have to be considered, he said.
"But we know people with a higher level of education tend not to be involved in crime as much," Jackson said. "I think the key to society is education, so the LIP program is right on target."
That is why academic progress gets so much scrutiny in parole decisions, Jackson said. However, he said it would be unfair to deny parole based solely on subpar reading proficiency.
"There might be inmates who have learning disabilities and can never compete academically," Jackson said. If they try to improve, develop vocational skills and behave, they might be paroled even if they fall short of the eighth-grade reading level.
Jackson was unable to say how many inmates have been paroled under such circumstances.
About 2,900 inmates have completed the program since it began in the summer of 1986 with the backing of former Gov. Gerald Baliles, Brailey said. The program originally was for inmates with less than sixth-grade reading proficiency, but the General Assembly raised it to the eighth-grade level in 1989.
Students range in age from 18 to 65. They spend 1 1/2 hours a day, five days a week, in class. Sixty-six teachers and dozens of inmate aides and community volunteers conduct the classes at 31 prisons and field units.
James Winfield, 26, of Petersburg is among the inmates who believe the program is worthwhile.
"I'm participating because I want to get my education and better my life," said Winfield, who dropped out of school after the ninth grade. "I think I'm constantly improving. After being out of school these many years, it takes a little time."
Winfield said he was reading at just above the sixth-grade level when he began a seven-year sentence for cocaine distribution 13 months ago.
Now, after six months in the program at James River Correctional Center, he is just shy of the eighth-grade level. He said he hopes to cross that threshold before his Sept. 28 parole eligibility date.
Ray Crowe, 35, of Fairfax County, tutors his fellow inmates at night and finds them to be willing students. Crowe was sentenced to nine years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
"There's a direct link between illiteracy and criminal behavior, and I feel good being able to help solve that problem," Crowe said.