What ALISON is doing
ALISON is dedicated to helping marginalised communities, among them the formerly incarcerated, become successful in their lives and make a productive contribution to society.
ALISON has already helped hundreds of formerly incarcerated individuals re-enter the workforce and it is now reaching out to those organisations dedicated to helping people re-enter the workforce in a bid to assist them in tackling their educational needs.
A court in upstate New York has made a landmark ruling. A young offender by the name of Dylan Lewis was released from the threat of incarceration after having successfully completed two courses on ALISON.
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Free
Courses
Over 750 standards-based and certified FREE courses. -
A dedicated Advanced Diploma in Workforce Re-Entry Skills that provides learners with the soft skills they need to find gainful employment
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Low cost ALISON parchments that users can purchase and use as a record of their learning achievement for parole boards, Workforce Development providers and potential employers
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What ALISON offers organisations
- A FREE Learning Management System, ALISON Study Groups, which allows parole, corrections, community and State run organisations to assign specific courses to a group of individuals, and monitor and report on their progress;
- A dedicated Advanced Diploma in Workforce Re-Entry Skills that provides learners with the soft skills they need to re-enter their communities and the basic skills they need to find gainful employment;
- The option of pre-paying for ALISON parchments that users can purchase and use as a record of their learning achievement for parole boards or other bodies;
- Access to the services of ALISON's dedicated Correctional Re-Entry Support Specialist, Heather Erwin, who can advise organizations on ALISON's unique service offerings and how these services can be tailored to meet specific needs
- For further information on any of the above services and to discuss budget and pricing requirements, please contact ALISON’s Corrections and Re-Entry Specialist, Heather Erwin directly by email at [email protected]
Why?
- There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that mass incarceration does not work
- Incarceration costs are soaring - the costs to incarcerate one individual for one year ranges between $30,000 and $130,000 from state to state (The Sentencing Project)
- Access to education is key to reducing recidivism
- For every dollar spent on educating an incarcerated learner, the state saves $5 in operating and re-incarceration costs, (RAND Corporation)
- Children who drop out of high school or are criminally justice involved as youths are more likely to be incarcerated as adults
- Less than 50% of those incarcerated in America have a high school equivalency and are therefore less likely to be gainfully employed or to hold a position that pays more than the national minimum wage, (RAND Corporation)
- Formerly incarcerated individuals face numerous challenges when they emerge from prison and attempt to re-enter the workforce, leading to greater levels of recidivism
- Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to become criminally justice involved and more likely to drop out of school
- Youths who hold a high school equivalency, show motivation by engaging in self-directed learning and are gainfully employed are less likely to become criminally justice involved, (The Sentencing Project)
- While incarceration rates are slowing, there are still 2.3 million incarcerated individuals in prisons, 6 million on probation and 20 million formerly incarcerated, who are increasingly marginalised.