Access to education can change a lot for prisoners — the majority of which eventually return to the communities they came from.
A new documentary, "College Behind Bars," examines what that looks like for a dozen men and women taking classes in New York prisons.
It airs next week on WTVP. Ahead of the premiere, the public television station hosted a panel featuring two men incarcerated here in Peoria.
Cletis Hicks is a resident of the Peoria Adult Transition Center, an Illinois Department of Corrections work-release facility that houses 250 men primarily convicted of "low-level" offenses.
Hicks has been taking classes at Illinois Central College for almost a year. He’s about nine months away from earning his associate's degree.
“It has given me a sense of self worth and given me an opportunity to see myself in a different light — an ability to see that I was able to accomplish something more than what I accomplished the first time,” he said.
Hicks echoed a sentiment expressed in the film: prison does not habilitate or change people. He said the only thing that changes a person is their will to be different — and the opportunity to do it.
“I think the biggest problem is the lack of knowledge — not knowing what resources are out there and what opportunities are available to help you,” he said. “Once I became familiar with that knowledge, and I was able to find those doors that I could open, then it made it easier for me to travel down that path. But without it, I was completely lost.”
Bryan Harmon, another Peoria ATC resident, said educating prisoners not only benefits the individual, but also their family.
Both Harmon and Hicks work with the ELITE Design program to intervene when kids are at risk of becoming justice-involved.
Harmon said there’s a cycle that repeats itself: A man winds up in prison, often after having limited access to education. Then, their kids’ performance suffers.
“That happens almost every time that I talk to a child that is acting out — their father, or their father figure, is incarcerated,” he said. “That’s why education behind bars is so important … to cut this vicious cycle.”
Other panelists included Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos, Peoria ATC social worker Jessica Mayhew and the leaders of Jobs Partnership Peoria.
"College Behind Bars" airs Nov. 25 and 26 on WTVP. It’s also available to stream.
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