Chaplain’s Corner-Did You Know? Food for Thought-Innovative Inmate Classes

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Program and Religious Services units partnered in 2020 to create a series of educational classes that they placed on the inmate’s tablet since in-person classes were cancelled due to the pandemic. The classes were creative, informative, inspirational, and relevant. Some of the classes gave the inmates local information and allowed for an application to be given out so they could be screened for services by the agency prior to release to allow for a smooth transition to the community. Providing some of the information in the classes decreased the number of requests that staff receive from inmates, thereby reducing staff workload. These specially created classes were made available to all inmates despite their classification, thereby reaching more inmates than in-person classes could have reached. Creating these classes filled a void for both the instructors and the inmates during a very difficult year of isolation, boredom, and hopelessness.