A program founded by Sean Pica called Hudson Link now allows inmates to earn a college degree while serving time behind bars.
Hudson Link also claims to help save New York State taxpayers from millions of dollars. While it costs $60,000 per year to jail an individual in New York State, it only costs $5,000 to provide them education while in prison. Therefore not only is it beneficial to help inmates turn their lives around, but it also saves money.
Hudson Link is currently operational in 6 correctional facilities, in partnership with 7 colleges that offered degree options in behavioral sciences and liberal arts. Inmates will now have a second chance to go to school and earn a degree that will likely earn them a career.
“I think a lot of our prisons in this country were built on an effort of punishment,” Pica tells Freethink. “But when you punish somebody, there’s got to be something about rehabilitation and second chances, and that’s what we’re doing in these prisons.”
Are yall here for this or nah?
