This story was told by a staff member at Centinela.
UCI: Tell me, what kind of programming do you provide at- at prisons?
Caller: We provide songwriting workshops.
UCI: Okay, and that’s classified as art?
Caller: Yes, it is. It’s arts and corrections programming.
UCI: Beautiful. How have the facilities been handling your program during COVID?
Caller: Well, all of our in-person programming was suspended once the lockdown began, and we were, we pivoted to distance learning or what they called prison in-cell packets, so we essentially figured out how to sort of change our format to a written format and write those out in, you know 10-page lessons and then submit them through the mail. Some of the prisons, we mail them directly to the participants.
UCI: Okay.
Caller: In the classes and to our correspondents, which is directly to them. And other institutions didn’t want that to happen, so they would either have us email them the lessons, some of the more cooperative and active CRMs would put them themselves and take them to the participants and then collect them and then scan them and mail them back to us. Others we would drop them off and give them prepaid postage boxes where they would disseminate the lessons and then collect them and mail them back to us, was the original plan.
Now, some of the CRMs, which is community resource manager, some were more attentive and active than others and were really on top of it, and others would kind of just fell through the cracks in a lot of ways. We would deliver the lessons, and we wouldn’t get them back from the CRMs for up to 90 days.
UCI: And how has the response been from your students that, I mean, just in general, I guess you know you can’t tell whether it’s the students that aren’t responding or it’s the CRMs that are not collecting the lessons in time?
Caller: That’s it. You know, that’s kind of the, the data we were receiving back was, you know, all over the place. It would be like well, participants didn’t want to continue being involved, and/ or you know, they would say they hadn’t received any back. And then others were, like I said, you know, some of the CRMs were more on top of it they got directly to them and we got them directly back and the response was positive.
Obviously, it was a big transition from in-person programming to what we could what we could offer through the mail. Which was very limited. You know, a big part of our program is that we collaborate, and we work together. I mean, the format of our program is that we go in, we pick a topic, we break up into groups, everyone writes, you know, like at least a paragraph or something on that topic with lyrics or poetry or something, or stories.
And then, in an hour and a half, the groups that we divide up into they they write and arrange a song in an hour and a half and then we get back to the last half an hour, we perform the songs for each other. So it’s a lot of fun, and it’s high energy, and there’s a lot of, like I said, collaboration and working together.
And so, like to make that pivot to, you know, people working alone through the mail was a big challenge, was a big change for the participants who were there beforehand. But that being said, they were very grateful and responsive to just getting something in the mail that let them know there were people out there still thinking about them.
And that, and just having that correspondence, meant a lot to many of the participants in the class. You know, our return rate was pretty low, I’d say, compared to the amount of students that we had, I would say we were getting anywhere from 10 to 15 percent maximum.
UCI: Yeah.
Caller: But those who did return, the lessons were super enthusiastic and wrote a lot of great lyrics and, you know, told us a lot of really fantastic stories, and we’re still doing it now. Now, some of the other programs, we were actually able to launch a program at Centinela, and they went out, and these guys didn’t know the program existing in any other form in the way they was presented to them.
Which was through correspondence through the mail, and we have, you know, full rosters, and we have, you know, 25 on each yard on two different yards. Now, I don’t know what the response that was going to be when they signed up knowing what they were getting into.
We shipped all those lessons off a couple weeks ago. I haven’t gotten them back yet, but you know, if we get all of those back, that would be pretty amazing.
UCI: That’s great. And what is your assessment of the effectiveness of the lessons now that you’re doing it distance learning? Is it still, I mean, does it have, it doesn’t have quite the same effects but [unintelligible].
Caller: Yeah. Well, I wouldn’t – obviously, it doesn’t have the same impacts of, you know, what I described to you. You’re missing some pretty large components, which is the interaction.
That’s basically, you know, sort of the magic to our program, or the medicine if you will, is that people are connecting with each other and realizing that their stories not only have value but can be a benefit to other people. And other people share their similar experiences, and that in itself is a huge step for a lot of people that have been isolated and who have had trouble connecting and building relationships in their life.
So, that component is not there, but I do think it’s beneficial. I think the connection is still there, albeit it’s more, you know, old-fashioned via the Pony Express, but it’s still is a connection, and the topics that we choose still force introspection and create opportunities for self awareness. Which I think is, is huge.
These guys are, like I said, feeling super isolated and, and forgotten and just knowing that there’s somebody who cares to hear their perspective and give them an opportunity and challenge them to sort of think in ways that they’re not necessarily used to that can be a benefit, you know, for sure it’s advantageous for them.
But I also think it’s important for the relationships, now that we’re moving towards opening up again, at least those guys, you know, the trust that we’ve built with these participants in our class is over the years, they know, and are aware that we’ve attempted to keep it going so that when we go back in it won’t be like we just forgotten about them. So I think there’s still a lot of benefit of having continued the process.
UCI: Right. And so, what do you think could be better? What could the facilities have done better to accommodate the class?
Caller: Well, I think they could’ve stepped into the 21st century as far as using computers and Skype. And I mean, the tools are all there for classes to be done distance learning, which [unintelligible] connected via technology, and I think that these are avenues we should continue to explore and to push.
And there are, you know, I think there’s a lot of CRMs that support it, and I think that you know, some of these sort of, you know, antiquated fears of technology and inmates’ exposure or access to those technologies being dangerous to society, are, I think are, you know, over exaggerated for sure. And I think the sooner that they can move in that direction, the more better for everyone, right, that rehabilitation can be, can be-
UCI: Yeah.
Caller: Sped up and, and assisted, and I think you know, there’s a lot of prisons that even, you know, will fully open and are able to go to are just so far out of the way. And we don’t have teaching [unintelligible] that can get there on a weekly basis, and so, I think, you know, having Skype or Microsoft teams or classes that we can do via video would be incredibly advantageous.
UCI: Right. And one more question, how has it affected you personally, you know, going in and working with, with the guys and the family incarcerated and then, and then having to switch to this new system and then, yeah, how has it affected you?
Caller: Well, you know, it’s been difficult for sure because the whole, you know, really I learned quickly in teaching this is, I get a lot more out of it, I think, sometimes even than the participants get for me personally. I don’t know if I get more, but I certainly get a lot.
UCI: Right.
Caller: And you know, you know, again, it goes to the idea of connection, that human beings need to connect, and I certainly need it. And you know, it’s something I’ve become accustomed to, you know, ’cause I also work with, teaching youth classes, so you know, sometimes I’m – I was teaching up to four or five classes a week.
And the benefits for me were events and then to, you know, just having, being cut off abruptly and not really having that I know I’ve had some of it, and that it’s a form of it through mail and in some of our youth classes we have been able to do Skype or Microsoft teams and have been able to do them over the phone. So there’s been a bit of a connection there, but you know, I – I find that I’ve missed it, I’ve missed that in-person connection, and there’s definitely been a hole left in my, in my life because of it.
UCI: Yeah. Well, I really, really appreciate you taking the time to call in, you know, and we’ll definitely, you know, we’ll be able to use parts of these stories and – and hopefully, you know, put it up on the site and hopefully we’ll see some kind of change out of this, you know. With the – the testimonies talking about all the conditions throughout all 35 prisons in California so.
Caller: I hope so, thank you.
UCI: Yeah, and I will talk to you soon, I will be in touch, thank you for calling again.
Caller: Take care.
UCI: Have a good one, bye.
