Montezuma County jail gets grant to continue education program

Thanks to a new state grant, the Montezuma County Detention Center will be able to expand its education program for inmates next year.

In fall 2015, the jail received a Colorado justice assistance grant to provide classes for inmates and offer a path to a high school diploma while in jail. But since the grant ran out in September 2016, the jail has struggled to provide classes on the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office budget alone. Now, grant writer Cindy Ramsay said the grant has been renewed for 2018, meaning that the jail can offer a full education program again in January.

The original $108,000 grant paid for a teacher to provide classes once a week for up to five groups of six inmates ? or "mentees," as Ramsay said students in the program prefer to be called ? which is the largest number of students who can fit into the jail classroom. It also paid for five TVs that could be used to stream educational videos throughout the week. Through the education program, mentees could take classes in everything from astronomy to parenting skills. When the grant money ran out, the weekly classes were reduced, and Ramsay said they were cut altogether for several months, leaving only the educational videos.

When Ramsay found out this summer that the grant would be renewed, she expected to receive the money in October, but she said the Colorado Department of Justice delayed it until January. Once the grant does begin, she said, the jail will be able to pay a teacher for more hours every week, allowing her to spend more one-on-one time with each student. It will also be able to hire a case manager who can work with each mentee to plan for life after jail.

"That person will be their guide and take them through the loops and try to help them on the outside," Ramsay said.

She said she believes the best way to keep people out of jail once they've been released is by teaching them the skills to navigate and contribute to society, and she expects the expanded education program will help with that goal. The classes are designed to help people with a wide range of educational experience and to offer a chance for those who never graduated from high school to get a diploma. Mentees who are willing to pay the $56.25 fee can sign up to take the HiTEST, a high school diploma test similar to the GED, which is also paid for by the grant.

Although the jail hasn't offered the classes long enough to gather hard data on how they impact recidivism, Ramsay said some mentees have gone on to leave addictive lifestyles, get jobs and continue their education as a result of the program.

"I can't thank you enough for giving us the chance to further our education through Empowering through Change (the name of the grant program)," one letter from an inmate read.

Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said that over the past year, students in the education program have sent him "stacks" of such letters thanking the jail staff for the classes.

"I'm really excited about the progress that has been made, and the help that has been made available to the people who take advantage of it," he said. "We want them to be a productive member of society. We don't want them coming back here."

He said the program helps the whole community by reducing the amount of taxpayer money spent on keeping people in jail. Ramsay said the grant should cover all the program's expenses next year, including new school supplies.