Digital tools, according to those working within or alongside correctional facilities, are proving essential to reshaping re-entry outcomes and addressing clear gaps in preparing individuals for a world transformed by technology.
As Tony Parker, former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Corrections, put it: “Re-entry should begin day one.” That’s because from his perspective, the biggest barrier people leaving incarceration face isn’t a lack of motivation, but a lack of preparation for today’s digital world.
“Preparing people to re-enter society and have some knowledge of what the world looks like is a challenge,” Parker said. “In today’s world, when you think about the electronics and the digital literacy that people need when they enter society, it is a major barrier. And we have to address that before we just release people back into the communities unprepared.”
Tablets, Parker said, offer corrections agencies a scalable way to do exactly that. With 24/7 access to job readiness programs, education, mental health resources and re-entry planning tools, people who are incarcerated can begin preparing long before release. It’s “a force multiplier in preparing people to re-enter society,” he said, noting digital tools let people track their own progress through programs and get insight into the steps remaining before they return home.
THE LOS ANGELES HACKATHON: DIGITAL RE-ENTRY IN PRACTICE
Mission: Launch co-founder Teresa Hodge, who was incarcerated from 2007 to 2011, emphasized the goal of modernizing re-entry at scale — starting inside these facilities.
“Ninety-five percent of people sitting in prison are going to return home,” she said. Yet, with staffing shortages and limited in-person programs, many spend years without access to tools that could help them prepare. Secure tablets can change that, she said, by delivering education, job exploration and cognitive behavioral programming on demand.
One of the biggest challenges facing people in prison today, Hodge said, is the lack of access to quality programming: “There’s not enough correctional staff, there are not enough volunteers who go into facilities to offer quality programming to individuals who are in prison, and not everybody in prison can afford the cost of higher education.” Because of this, Hodge said, many people “sit in prison for months, years, decades even without access to information that could support them both during their incarceration and after they come home.”
That’s why, she said, the recent hackathon focused on finding ways to “create more programming opportunities on tablets” — making resources available on demand. Tablets, she said, give incarcerated individuals “a window into the world they’re going to return to because when people come home, they're not going to an island, they're coming to our communities.”
WHAT THE DATA IS BEGINNING TO SHOW
Jane Oates, former president of WorkingNation, pointed to data showing the potential return on investment from these technology tools. The organization spotlights workforce challenges and potential solutions. When U.S. Department of Labor career tools were made available on prison tablets, usage spiked dramatically, according to Oates. Historically averaging about 60,000 page views annually, the tools reached a new level of engagement after deployment behind bars.
“In the past two months, they’ve had 3 million page views,” said Oates, now a senior policy adviser to WorkingNation. “Now, you could argue we don't have any way to aggregate whether that's all coming from people behind bars, but clearly our putting it on tablets in Arizona, statewide, and in a few places in Massachusetts, has to be a factor in that development. This says that folks behind bars are hungry for the right information.”
WHAT COMES NEXT FOR STATES
Mission: Launch plans to publish a detailed report from the Los Angeles hackathon and is actively exploring ways to scale the most promising concepts — an effort that will require sustained public-private investment. Hodge said she believes the investment is well worth it. She envisions a nationwide, tablet-based directory of re-entry services that offers individuals clear, localized guidance before their release.
For Parker, the message to states and agencies considering digital investments in corrections is clear: “The train has left the station.” The former DOC commissioner said tablets and digital re-entry tools are no longer optional, but essential for helping administrators and correctional agencies fulfill their mission.
“You release people back into communities where they’re successful, and they don’t come back to prison,” Parker said. “That is the true mission of corrections.”
