CCF first began advocating for increased access to higher education for currently and formerly incarcerated people in 2008. We did so on a number of issues pertaining to exclusion from higher education as one of three partners in the Education from the Inside Out Coalition (EIO).
In 2014, EIO responded to a federal request for ideas for the Department of Education’s “Experimental Sites Initiative.”
EIO’s suggestion, to test out the efficacy of reinstating Pell Grant eligibility, was accepted and the project launched in 2015. CCF’s Executive Director, Vivian Nixon, worked with the Department of Education to review all applications from educational institutions seeking to offer courses inside correctional facilities. Today, the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites, has expanded. As an organization, we are in the process of submitting a Public Comment on the ‘Prison Education Program Application’ for Pell Grant reinstatement. This has been submitted to the Department of Education in April 2023 on behalf of CCF.
Click here to read the EIO Coalition’s report on the effect of “the box” on college applications.
In 2016, EIO’s campaign to remove criminal history screenings on State University of NY (SUNY) campuses finally wrapped up with a victory. While CCF was vigorously fighting to reinstate Pell, we were also fighting to overturn this regressive ban on the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for incarcerated people. April 8th is a historic day for incarcerated people in New York. After the State passed a budget bill repealing that ban.
CCF has had a proud and rewarding history in our work to advance policy initiatives that matter for the women that we serve and for those impacted by the criminal legal system as a whole, in an effort to advance post-secondary education access. Beyond our successful campaigns, we've also had policy programming that supported raising the voices of formerly incarcerated women across New York. Our former programming provided skills such as statutory analysis to community mapping to help justice-impacted women advocate for policy changes both systemically and in their own communities.
Former CCF Policy programming:
Women Influencing Systems and History (WISH)
Women of Change: Art Program
Bronx Redefining Advocacy and Community Engagement (BRACE)
Bronx Redefining Advocacy and Community Engagement: Community Liaison Mentorship Program (BRACE Liaison)
We are thankful for all of our advocates and supporters of initiatives that had a broad impact over the years, but with the restoration of Pell, which was our original campaign, we now want to focus on our Academic Support Programming, in order to support all the women who will have broader post-secondary education access post-release.