Statements
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Our Communities Shall Not Be Silenced:
A Message from F.O.R.T.E House
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On behalf of the entire F.O.R.T.E. House family, we stand in solidarity with our national, local, and incarcerated communities who have suffered and continue to suffer the brutality of state-sanctioned violence. The time for radical and lasting change is now....
Movements
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F.O.R.T.E. supports access to higher education in prisons throughout the country
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Formerly incarcerated individuals with low levels of education often find themselves without the financial resources or social support systems upon their release from correctional facilities and therefore are more vulnerable to committing criminal acts rather than becoming reintegrated into society.
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We agree with the expansion of Second Chance Pell Grant in prisons movement. According to the Institute for Higher Education Policy, left without access to education beyond the secondary level, seven in 10 formerly incarcerated persons are more than likely to return to prison within three years—thus, creating additional financial burdens and harm to their communities due to recidivism. Rand also reported that those who participate in education programs while incarcerated are 43% less likely to return to prison than those who don’t. Access to higher education lowers recidivism and generates transformative justice efforts surrounding mass incarceration. Therefore, the wraparound services that F.O.R.T.E. House offer is a crucial entity within this movement and a movement we support.
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"Higher education had a long number of years where it went unsupported in prisons. A new day has come where Pell for prisoners is back on the table and openness to a new understanding of the importance of education and training in the life of an individual touched by the criminal justice system really is."
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Friend of the F.O.R.T.E. Family
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