Freedom Education Project Puget Sound

Education Administration ProgramsWashington, United States11-50 Employees

Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) provides a rigorous college program for incarcerated women, trans-identified and gender nonconforming people in Washington and creates pathways to higher education after students return to community from prison. FEPPS offers an Associate of Arts degree accredited by Tacoma Community College, and a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree accredited by University of Puget Sound.

Most women enter prison with significant challenges, which only become greater after release. Many have had minimal access to education, come from impoverished backgrounds, and never finished high school. A majority have survived domestic or sexual violence, and will be a caretaker of children upon release. Once released, most women have accrued significant debt, carry the stigma of incarceration, and are barred from many housing and employment opportunities. Children of incarcerated parents have higher rates of arrest, incarceration, poverty, and mental and physical health challenges.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, and state prison populations for women have grown at more than twice the rate of men over the past 40 years. Women and girls of color are disproportionately affected by all aspects of the criminal legal system. Ultimately, as a society we must take steps to dismantle our systems of mass incarceration and policing, which are racialized, sexist, classist, and focused on punishment. They criminalize poverty, mental illness, and addiction. They inflict broad state violence and harm, particularly on communities of color, poor communities, and people with disabilities. Within these systems as they currently exist, however, education is the most important factor for reducing recidivism and intergenerational incarceration, and for improving educational and economic outcomes for children of incarcerated parents.

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