This week, the Vera Institute of Justice is hosting the 4th annual Second Chance Pell Grant convening in Washington DC. More than 200 attendees from 26 states are attending, including NDCS deputy director Dawn-Renee Smith, program coordinator of the Metro Community College Second Chance Pell program Sharri Wirth and a participant of the program at Metro, Chris Vollman.

Great work is being done across the country to increase access to and quality of higher education in prisons. Metro Community College is a pilot site for the Second Chance Pell project, working with both incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people to access postsecondary education.

“Providing access to quality education increases a person’s employability and reduces the likelihood of returning to prison,” Smith said. “Each recidivist has created a new victim in our community; this is one of the many programs that aids NDCS in fulfilling our mission: Keep people safe.”

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