Justice Policy Coding Lab

Overview

The Justice Policy Coding Lab provides currently and formerly incarcerated people with digital literacy opportunities to learn and apply coding that learning to justice-related projects and policy changes using Apple technology. This project is a collaborative effort between the Maine Department of Corrections, Washington County Community College, Unlocked Labs, and CEPP’s Opportunity Scholars.

Our Approach

Research shows that educational and job training programs during incarceration improve reentry outcomes, reduce recidivism by 14.8%, and increase employment by 6.9%. Expanding access to such programs, particularly teaching skills like coding, could help people overcome economic and social challenges upon release, offering greater opportunities for success in Maine’s rural and economically disadvantaged communities. These programs could be replicated nationally in other struggling communities.

The Justice Policy Coding Lab will transform the landscape for people incarcerated in Maine. CEPP will work with 10–12 people incarcerated at  Maine Correctional Center, prioritizing marginalized groups, women and girls, and emerging adults (ages 18–25). The work will involve:

• Creating a training ground for participants to learn coding skills to increase employability and marketability for employment post-release 
• Offering opportunities for participants to apply their learned technical skills to address social policies and problems that impact people who are currently and formerly incarcerated and to promote systemic change
• Connecting Coding Lab participants with peer mentors who are focused on community engagement, improving the criminal justice system, and increasing opportunities

The Coding Lab represents a transformative opportunity for people who are incarcerated to gain valuable skills while contributing to meaningful strategies around justice reform, and it allows system stakeholders to contribute to pathways that support successful reintegration.

The Impact

Nationally, nearly 6 million men and 1.7 million women are released annually from prisons and jails across the country. Roughly 24,000 men and 7,600  women are released in Maine. Given that Maine is one of the country’s poorest and most rural states—factors that can present their own challenges—building transferable skills like coding will help people recently released have additional opportunities to thrive no matter where they live. 

This program aims to leverage technology for rehabilitation, strengthened partnerships, and systemic change by empowering currently and formerly incarcerated people with coding skills and engaging them in justice reform, helping them build a portfolio of work, and providing them with skills to secure employment or become entrepreneurs. CEPP hopes to model the scope of possible partnerships that organizations can form with correctional institutions to make a measurable difference in people’s social and economic well-being.