Cerritos College announced Wednesday it received a $225,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services to enhance its Court to College program for first-time nonviolent felony offenders.
C2C is billed as a one-of-a-kind college and career bridge program aimed at reducing recidivism and substance abuse, and to increase educational attainment and employability.
Cerritos College partners with the county Department of Health Services’ Office of Diversion and Reentry, Norwalk courthouse and the county Department of Probation on the program that has served nearly 90 students since its inception in 2015, and boasts an 81% success rate in reducing recidivism.
The college has a history of supporting educational opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals. The college’s first program of this kind, called ACCESS First, was founded by retired Judge Peter Espinoza and former Cerritos College counselor Marcelino Saucedo in 2000.
C2C has assisted students on adult felony probation by providing them with academic support services, including individualized educational planning, book and supply vouchers, early enrollment for classes, tutoring, tuition, financial aid and scholarship assistance for those that qualify.
With the new grant, Cerritos College will serve about 20 students each semester. The college will also offer leadership skills workshops, monthly counseling sessions, transfer assistance including campus visits, and employment support services.
A research study shows that education is the most cost-efficient and effective means of reducing recidivism. It costs an average of about $81,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate in prison in California, while the average cost of community college is less than $5,000 per participant, according to the C2C program.
“The program is transformational in so many ways,” said Mark Ganbala, the Cerritos College counselor that oversees C2C. “Some participants continue to pursue academic degrees and vocational certificates after they complete their conditions of probation, and some have even gone on to transfer to four-year universities, gotten jobs on campus, expunged their records, and even had family members attend classes at Cerritos College.”