Prisoner & Family Ministry Literacy Program

Program Overview

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI)'s Prisoner and Family Ministry began the Literacy Program in August, and it provides both incarcerated individuals and returning citizens the opportunity to learn to read. In partnership with Catholic Charities of Southern Illinois, LSSI has recently started working with both the Pinckneyville and Centralia Correctional Facilities to train incarcerated individuals to become tutors, who will then teach their peers how to read. Prior to starting tutoring, volunteers give participants the Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT), a well-regarded, quick screening test to determine a student's reading level. Students are then SORT tested monthly to monitor their progress. A study by the RAND Corporation found that incarcerated individuals who were part of an education program were 43% less likely to experience recidivism than inmates who did not participate in educational opportunities. Additionally, studies have found that almost half of prisoners read below a sixth grade level, and LSSI's Storybook Project, where inmates record themselves reading books for their children, has shown us low literacy rates in prisons first hand. LSSI aims to decrease recidivism by providing literacy opportunities that will allow inmates to succeed upon their release. Currently, 15 inmates are enrolled between the two correctional facilities and starting in February 2019, the intake process for returning citizens will include a literacy component.