Sheriff's Office

For Immediate Release

PR #: 1600026
Date Issued: Apr 25, 2016 - 3:00pm

UNR students and Washoe County Detention Facility inmates learn side-by-side through Inside-Out Prison Exchange program

CONTACT: Brooke Howard Division Manager-Community Engagement Office 775-785-6205

For the last 16 weeks selected inmates at the Washoe County Detention Facility and Criminal Justice students from the University of Nevada, Reno have participated in a unique college program to study the American Criminal Justice System. Through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, they shared common readings and discussed ideas and perceptions about issues related to crime, justice, corrections and imprisonment.

The semester ends with a closing ceremony at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. Sheriff Chuck Allen will address the students before they receive their certificates of completion. The students will also present a Comprehensive Strategy to Address Crime-related Harm that they prepared during the course.

Inside-Out was founded in 1997 by Lori Pompa, a criminal justice faculty member at Temple University, who began classes with Temple students at prisons in the Philadelphia area. Since 2004, it has become a national program, with courses taught in 37 states and involving more than 7,500 inside and outside students. For more information, visit insideoutcenter.org.

This course is the first time the University of Nevada, Reno and the Washoe County Sheriff's Office have partnered in a program that brings together University or "outside" students and jail inmates, or "inside" students, for a college-level course in which people from different backgrounds learn together as peers.

All instruction took place in the Washoe County Jail's Detention Programs Unit. Prior to enrollment, potential candidates on both the inside and outside had to go through an intense screening process which included a short essay, one-on-one interviews to discuss and review program rules and expectations, education level, employment history, criminal history, individual goals and self-motivation. Participants also had to be able to read and write, only use each other's first names and agree to maintain no-contact even upon completion of the course.

"Even though the ‘inside' students do not receive college credits, opportunities like this help build offenders' confidence and reminds them that bad decisions made in their past do not have to define their future," Detention Programs Coordinator, Brooke Howard said.

The Washoe County Detention Facility continues to expand its Programs Unit to give inmates opportunities for effective rehabilitative opportunities while incarcerated. For more information visit the Jail Counseling Programs page of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office website at: WashoeSheriff.com.

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The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is dedicated to preserving a safe and secure community with professionalism, respect, integrity and the highest commitment to equality. Sheriff Darin Balaam is the 27th person elected to serve as the Sheriff of Washoe County since the Office was created in 1861. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office strives to ensure public safety by building trust and creating partnerships within the diverse communities in which we serve. We will promote the dignity of all people supported by our words and actions through open communication while fostering an environment of professionalism, integrity and mutual respect.

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