- Persevere offers a one-year programming course for inmates so they can become full-stack web developers, according to Florida Department of Corrections.
- The Office of the State Attorney Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida said in Florida, the recidivism rate is about 25 percent within three years of a state prisoner's release.
- Watch the video to hear from inmates going through the program and see how it's designed to lead people on a positive path forward.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's a program preparing inmates to transition into the workforce. I'm your neighborhood reporter Terry Gilliam in Crawfordville. I'm looking at how inmates at Wakulla Correctional Institute learn skills for a second chance at life.
"Communication makes the world go round. I speak several different languages, but when I got into this coding program, my main thing was learning to speak a new language. That language is computers."
Vincent Gordon is an inmate at the Wakulla Correctional Institute. He tells me what's been occupying his time. It's a program that's equipping inmates with technology skills; that program is called Persevere.
Friday, staff of the Florida Department of Corrections celebrated the new launch of this program with a ribbon cutting. "It's building a family structure. It's building that support network that everyone needs in DOC, because if you don't have a support network when you leave here, you'll fall back into the same trends," said Gordon.
The Persevere program is a one-year programming course for people behind prison walls, so they can become full-stack developers. It also includes life skill classes and support.
"My journey starts with a successful life with a beautiful family and owning my own business and working in the criminal Justice space to try to help improve outcomes systemically along the way because of life troubles of my own," said Sean Hosman. Hosman founded Persevere in 2012 while serving time in jail. Two years later, the program became official.
"I got clean on July 5, 2012," Hosman added. "I really had a decision to make, and that decision was can I still in this industry, trying to really improve the systems?"
Improving the systems is what Persevere is all about. It's teaching inmates new skills, so they can re-enter their life and the workforce. The program is also implemented in seven different states.
The Office of the State Attorney Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida said in Florida, the recidivism rate is about 25 percent within three years of a state prisoner's release. Within five years, that number jumps to about 35 percent.
Those are reasons why Hosman said the Persevere program is necessary in the first place. "If somebody goes on and gets a college degree, if somebody gets a job in coding, their recidivism rate plummets!"
It's an idea driving inmates like Gordon forward. "If everyone can put in that dedication for any little thing that have in their lives, we all would be in a better place."
People here also tell me that the course takes a full year to complete and earn six certificates throughout that year.
