The following POLS deliverable will be centered around
increasing access to higher education and viable employment in high growth
industries and technology sectors for justice involved youth transitioning from
juvenile detention centers. As a graduate student, I plan to establish and collaborate
with a consortium of colleges, universities, and and technology companies that
support the educational and employment prospects of incarcerated youth who are
reentering society. Utilizing existing reentry networks, which typically caters
to adult populations, will help me access the personnel and resources necessary
to begin establishing a youth-focused version of their services.
Because of the necessity for this consortium to be
holistically supportive, the needs of the population outside of academics and
job training will need to be met as well. This will rely on partnerships
between non-profit organizations, youth advocacy groups, after school and
sports programs, reentry organizations dedicated to youth, technology firms
building tools for youthful demographics, employment recruiters and coaches. I
plan to use the existing relationships I have with Dream Corps, Anti-Recidivism
Coalition, and Cornell’s
School of Industrial Labor Relations as an acquisition channel for youth
prevention, intervention, and reentry programs. In addition to these community
building efforts, I will be collaborating with Professor Mukamal at Stanford’s Law School and
extending some of the work she has been doing in the juvenile justice,
employment, and reentry space.
On a theoretical level, my studies will be oriented
around four key areas: adolescent development, the modern higher education
system, employment in the technology sector, and juvenile law. This will help
me investigate the structural challenges of higher education in relation to
non-traditional students, the effects of the law on vulnerable youth
populations, and how developmental differences can be analyzed to inform
programmatic efforts that are inherently rehabilitative.
Research involved in this project will measure the
effectiveness of early intervention and the impact of college attendance and
entrepreneurship on youth recidivism. If successful, the impacts of the project
will be a gradual unification of community resources and organizations meant to
serve younger populations and more support for decarceration efforts; i.e.,
legislative changes, college as an alternative to incarceration, and increased
talent pipelines to the technology industry from non-traditional populations.
To date, there has yet to be a technical solution for
incarcerated populations to manage these fragmented networks and resources. The
fragmentation amongst educational institutions, re-entry organizations,
therapeutic services, community providers, and job readiness/entrepreneurial
programs is essentially a communication problem. To address this, I plan to
build out a pilot program powered by the Class Updates communication tech
platform. The pilot program will include a partnership between Class Updates,
Stooty Technologies INC., and OLV Human Services that centers around the
creation of an Employment Guidance, Training, and Education program for
juvenile delinquents, and youth with disabilities or mental health problems.
Our programs will be designed to help train and educate youth to guide them
into careers in the Creative and Information Technology industries. To
facilitate entry into these occupations, the program will offer participants an
apprenticeship with companies and professionals in the Creative or Technology
industries. The program will provide youth real-world experience, relevant
academic/vocational training and guidance counseling to help them make a
successful transition from incarceration to an academic program, a supportive
community, and viable employment.
To ensure that a technical solution is designed and
developed with this population in mind along with their unique needs and pain
points I will be looking to revamp the Class Updates application in the
following manner.
1.) A redesigning of the website that is aligned with
modern design principles and is reflective of the Class Updates brand
principles and guidelines
2.) The designing and development of additional
product features to service the various stakeholders in the proposal
3.) The incorporation of restorative justice
principles into the user experience and product development process
4.) Recruitment of additional technical personnel from
Stanford’s Computer Science Department & Engineering Department to
spearhead the coding of the app
5.) Repositioning as a solution component to criminal
justice reform efforts
6.) Advising from the Stanford’s Communication
Department and Graduate School of Education Personnel will provide strategic
guidance in forming partnerships with relevant organizations in the ed tech
space and access to university resources (Fred Turner, Harry and Norman
Chandler Professor of Communication; Steven Mitchell, Professor of Education
and Sociology)
