Precinct Reporter Group News

Top Menu

  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Buy Adspace
  • Hide Ads for Premium Members

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Buy Adspace
  • Hide Ads for Premium Members

logo

Precinct Reporter Group News

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
  • GOP Medicaid Plans Slash Coverage for Millions

  • Local Clinics Fight for Health in IE

  • SBVC Awards Over $800K to Students at Ceremony

  • SGV-NCNW Gala Honors Trailblazers, Raises Critical Funds

  • Budget Plan Guts Education Dollars

Latest PRGNews
Home›Latest PRGNews›CSUSB Project Rebound: Emerge From Incarceration

CSUSB Project Rebound: Emerge From Incarceration

By Precinct Reporter News
March 21, 2019
6383
0
Share:

By Dianne Anderson

Just about everyone has heard of the school pipeline to prison, but Dr. Annika Anderson knows the biggest challenge is in reversing that process.

Years ago, she wondered what happens when the formerly incarcerated stopped committing crimes, and when they set out to reintegrate back to society. She wanted to know how they are accepted, or shunned, in their journey through rehabilitation.

Her interest hit close to home.

“Having several family members who were formerly incarcerated got me into this type of work. I wanted to know what are the barriers to reentry? What are the conduits?” said Dr. Anderson, program director and principal investigator for Project Rebound at Cal State University, San Bernardino.

Anderson, who specializes in criminology, regularly goes into the prisons to talk with the incarcerated about their educational history, as well as their trajectory. She talks with them about how to move forward through their short and long term goals when they finally emerge from incarceration.

“We try to work with them when they’re incarcerated, that maybe you want to go to community college. After getting your associates, you can come here [to CSUSB], said Anderson, also a CSUSB sociology professor.

Her coordinator, who has a master’s degree in social work, and her intern, who is working on a master’s degree in social work, are both formally incarcerated. Statewide, she said one of the cornerstones of the Project Rebound program is that all the coordinators were formally incarcerated.

While Anderson has never been arrested or incarcerated, she understands the situation, both theoretically and practically.

“For folks coming out prisons or jails, they have trust issues. I might just look like another suit and tie, the institutional folks telling them when to go to sleep and when to wake up,” she said.

Requests for help pour in weekly, and she and staff regularly respond to family members looking to assist relatives with direction once they get out of prison. She is often asked to write character letters, which is a first step toward getting their records expunged.

In working closely with local community colleges, retention is an especially critical time after enrollment for vulnerable students. Her goal is to make sure they know they are welcome and a support system is available to them on campus.

But stepping on campus is somewhat of a litmus test for students that have spent time behind bars, as they try to fit into unfamiliar spaces.

Ad 23

“Like with any disadvantaged groups, we feel that impostor syndrome. We feel like we don’t belong. We feel not welcomed,” she said.

To counter all the negativity, new students are greeted by her staff at the gate or bus stop, and walked through campus resources, such as Adult Reentry. There, they connect with others that are successful through their same academic struggles.

Even so, not everyone is as thrilled with the idea of helping formerly incarcerated students, despite an abundance of data that shows how education is proven to reduce recidivism.

“Some people might say, why should we put money in a formerly incarcerated program? Aren’t there other students that need that money?” she said.

Frequently, she is called to speak at universities and conferences about the impacted population, and there is always someone in the audience trying to get back into school. The help isn’t singly about education, but it’s the process of having someone to talk to about housing assistance, employment barriers, or food insecurity.

Students need to know there is someone to turn to.

She believes that education is the way to counter the prison pipeline.

“Some of them go in and out of the system,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s very easy with minor parole violations. It’s easy to get back right in there.”

Students entering the Rebound Program must have 60 units to enroll, usually coming in from area community colleges. They should expect to work as hard as all other students, but they can get into the admissions process a quarter or two earlier than traditional students.

Reentry students learn to make their way through the barriers.

Even with ban the box, eventually employers will pop the question, but with time and distance from the offense, she said it is easier to get a job.  Many formerly incarcerated do have to start off in menial work, but she has seen students with an associate degree work their way up within companies.

“It’s really thinking about yourself. You’ve been given a second chance, and that you really should take advantage of those opportunities,” she said.

To learn more about the program and resources, see https://www.csusb.edu/project-rebound

Tagscsusbeducationincarcerationprecinct reporterProject ReboundReentry
Previous Article

Scholarships for Students, Grants for Nonprofits

Next Article

Know Your Rights: Free Brake Light Clinic ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Precinct Reporter News

Related articles More from author

  • Latest PRGNews

    NNPA Leadership Awards Honors Legendary Poll Worker, Esteemed Legislators

    September 20, 2018
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Legislators Dig Deep: White Supremacists in Law Enforcement, Military

    March 4, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    BLACK Collective: Resources for the People

    May 5, 2022
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    COVID-19 Impact on Black Community

    April 9, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Bill to Fund Black Students Moves Forward

    July 7, 2022
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Gov. Names Sen. Feinstein Successor

    October 5, 2023
    By Precinct Reporter News

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

You might be interested

  • Latest PRGNews

    Legislation to Assist Victims of Sexual Assault

  • Free CSUSB Health Fair, Dental and Mammograms
    Latest PRGNews

    Free CSUSB Health Fair, Dental and Mammograms

  • Latest PRGNews

    Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discriminatory Lending Guidance

Precinct Reporter News Group

Your local news resource for 50 years in the Inland Empire, Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding areas!

To subscribe or advertise, call 909.889.0597

About us

  • Broadcasting & Media Production Company
    357 W. 2nd Street
    San Bernardino, California, CA 92401
  • mailto:sales@precinctreporter.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • GOP Medicaid Plans Slash Coverage for Millions

    By Precinct Reporter News
    May 15, 2025
  • Local Clinics Fight for Health in IE

    By Precinct Reporter News
    May 15, 2025
  • SBVC Awards Over $800K to Students at Ceremony

    By Precinct Reporter News
    May 15, 2025
  • GOP Medicaid Plans Slash Coverage for Millions

    By Precinct Reporter News
    May 15, 2025
  • Join our Recipe Competition!

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • SB Budget Cuts CDBG

    SB CDBG Cuts Have Local Nonprofits Braced for the Worst

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015

Follow us

  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • ARCHIVES
  • blog
  • Buy Adspace
  • Cart
  • Contact Us
  • Food Test
  • Hide Ads for Premium Members
  • Home MultipleColours2
  • Home MultipleColours3
  • Home Page
  • Home Sport
  • Home Sport2
  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
© Powered by Hotspotwebsites.net. All rights reserved.