CCF Leads Tremendous Victory for Incarcerated People! #TurnOntheTAPNY

April 8th is a historic day for incarcerated people in New York. After the State passed a budget bill repealing the ban on the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for incarcerated people, thousands of incarcerated New Yorkers will now have expanded access to higher education! All states have need-based financial assistance, but since 1995, incarcerated New Yorkers have been banned from accessing it. While CCF was vigorously fighting to reinstate Pell and won in December 2020, we were also working to overturn this regressive ban.

In 1994 as part of the Violent Crime Bill, the federal government banned incarcerated people from accessing Pell grants, and in 1995, New York State (NYS) followed suit. The criminal legal system disproportionately impacts marginalized communities with limited resources. Thus, banning financial aid for incarcerated people is akin to banning access to education because it provides the sustained funding necessary for college-in-prison programs to exist. The bill to repeal the ban has been introduced every year since 1999. However, it was never brought up for consideration by the NYS legislature.

By running a campaign centering the voices of those formerly incarcerated, we were able to build a coalition and raise awareness around the issue of restoring TAP for people in prison. Each letter sent to legislators, meeting, panel discussion, Twitterchat, and rally challenged the damaging misconceptions of what incarcerated people could be. As Ivelisse Gilestra, CCF’s former community organizer and one of the leaders of the TurnOnTheTAPNY Campaign proclaimed:

Now, incarcerated people across NYS will have access to this opportunity. We have so many incredible partners to thank, such as the Bard Prison Initiative, Hudson Link and Central Synagogue. With little funding and no dedicated lobbyists, we formed a truly grassroots movement that persisted because of the powerful tales of education inside. As Tawana Williams, WISH Alumna recounted in her testimony to the budget hearing:

With access to TAP in prison restored, it’s time to celebrate new opportunities and endless possibilities. This is only the beginning.

To see the history of the campaign, including videos of rallies, advocacy days and printed opinion-editorials check out https://www.turnonthetapny.org/