An Educational Transition: Post-Secondary Correctional Education - A Qualitative Case Study

Administration of post-secondary correctional education (PSCE) programs within state was vastly changed through legislation enacted in 2009. This study examined the transition of a PSCE system formerly facilitated by higher education to the current system administered by the State Department of Corrections (SDC). This qualitative case study involved multiple perspectives from five different stake-holding groups or five socials units: state legislators, county law enforcement personnel, university personnel, state higher education administrators, SDC personnel, and technical college personnel. A thick, rich description of the transition was obtained by relying on multiple perspectives offered by informants. The stakeholders’ “display of multiple, refracted realities simultaneously” is both personal and shaped by their allegiance to their institutions as espoused by their chosen careers. Document analysis including enrolled copies of key legislation beginning with HB 235 in 2005, HB 86 in 2008, and legislation that is the focus of this research HB 100 in 2009 is presented. Additionally, SDC jail reports, describing state inmate populations, county warehousing costs of state inmates and projections for future availability in warehousing state inmates are utilized