Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Carroll Campus, held their We Include Lunch-and-Learn series yesterday (Wednesday) in the James and Marjorie Knott Commons Area. Speakers for the event were DMACC Director of Justice Impacted Communities, Dr. Jennie Doke-Kerns, and Erica Spiller, who is the assistant director of student development and author of “Iowa Women’s Corrections: A History.” According to Doke-Kerns, DMACC offers multiple educational programs to incarcerated individuals with funding provided by the Iowa Department of Corrections. Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
Vocational training and education for inmates can reduce recidivism rates of ex-offenders by as much as 43 percent, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Doke-Kerns says DMACC currently offers programs in five Iowa correctional facilities.
She adds other Iowa community colleges serve correctional facilities outside of DMACC’s service area. Over 140,000 adults in the state of Iowa do not have a high school diploma, and this demographic is overly represented in Iowa prisons. She says much of the work DMACC does in prisons is based on adult education programs and used to be funded partially by federal Pell grants.
Doke-Kerns adds that everyone has a right to education, even inmates, and helping these individuals find gainful employment after their release benefits all Iowans. Wednesday’s event was presented by the Carroll chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.