A room at Avenal State Prison was filled with excited inmates and their families Thursday as the California Prison Authority (CALPIA) held a graduation ceremony for inmates.
Inmates cheered each other on as they received their certificates — some were being awarded with apprenticeships. The certifications consist of inmates completing 144 hours of instruction and a minimum 8,000 hours of hands-on experience.
“We have poultry, egg production, general fabrication, furniture, laundry and healthcare facility maintenance, in addition we have administrative, warehouse and maintenance and repairs support functions here at Avenal,” said Nicole Collins, assistant general manager of facility operations for CALPIA.
CALPIA is a self-funded state entity that aims to provide real-world job skills to over 6,500 incarcerated individuals at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prisons. Individuals who participate and graduate from the program can also receive sentence reductions.
“We have some incredible programs, we have dental and optical labs, participants can gain their optician certification and work with the American Board of Opticianry to become opticians … We have dive programs where guys can learn underwater welding … Here at Avenal we have programs like health care facility maintenance, where guys learn how to clean at a hospital level …we are lucky to have so many success stories,” said Michele Kane, assistant general manager of external affairs at CALPIA during the opening ceremony.
During the ceremony, the majority of incarcerated individuals received their certificates in health facilities maintenance, laundry technician, data entry and upholstery.
“CALPIA HFM Program is topnotch, our mission is to clean facilities at a Hospital Level while teaching transferable job skills. HFM is at every institution, and there’s about 1,000 participants statewide,” Collins said. “We have great success stories with former participants working in hospitals, dental offices and even owning their own cleaning services.”
In the rows of incarcerated individuals sat Walter Brown, who was receiving an apprenticeship as a laundry technician.
“I’ve been here for 25 years, it’s been a long journey," Brown said. "I’ve been a part of this program for nine years, PIA has taught me the value of hard work. It’s given me the structure to wake up every day and be able to show up and do the work … I get to share this moment with others who have helped me along the way … being here today feels amazing.”
The general message from every administrator in the room was the same, the celebration of all the individuals who completed the program. CALPIA proudly reported that individuals who participate in their programs have lower rates of recidivism, compared to those who were qualified to, but did not participate.
“For those eight to nine hours a day that we worked four days a week it didn't even feel like I was in prison, I loved going to work … I was incarcerated at the age of 17 going on 30 now, so I didn't know anything about having a work ethic, responsibility for communicating well with others, all these things I learned with the help of CALPIA,” said Alejandro Guijarro, another apprenticeship recipient.
The ceremony ended in celebration, with inmates surrounded by friends and family, many looking to the future for a fresh start.