Improving Lives from the Inside Out: Part 8 – Starting on the Right Foot

Part 8 of the Improving Lives From the Inside Out Series from Securus Technologies features how Amy Yang, a former incarcerated individual from the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, used the available opportunity to further her education through the Securus Lantern learning management and education platform.

“The first thing I knew when I came home, is that I could finish my degree on my laptop because of Lantern. I felt empowered.” 
— Amy Yang

In a partnership with Ashland University, Securus’ Lantern program provides access to nearly 70 courses allowing incarcerated individuals to earn their Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree. According to Securus, the program “has given over 170,000 incarcerated residents, the opportunity to get a university education to help prepare them for a successful reentry. There have been over 1,000,000 course enrollments since Lantern’s inception.”

Yang was released in January 2019 and received her Associate’s degree only three months afterward with Ashland University; she is now pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. She credits Lantern and the education she earned with starting her off on the right foot. “The state of Georgia has many nonprofits to help. It’s a lot of work, but I started off on the right foot, so I believe that I can do it,” she says. “The first thing I knew when I came home, is that I could finish my degree on my laptop because of Lantern. I felt empowered.”

Securus’ Lantern learning management and education platform provides incarcerated individuals with convenient digital training tools to help them navigate reentry. It provides forms and critical information like a state ID and a driver’s license online. All furthering one’s success after incarceration and reducing recidivism.

Securus reports that Yang now works two jobs: one for Amazon using the technology degree background she earned with Lantern and Ashland University, and a second at a metal fabrication company. While incarcerated she was part of a mentorship helping others in the process – to change their lives as she was. Using this as motivation, she also works as a life coach (a non-paying job) to work towards the goal of launching her own charity for women.

Read the full case study at Securustechnologies.tech/securus-technologies-lantern-creates-habits-that-lead-to-a-communication-degree-for-the-formerly-incarcerated.

View more case studies from Securus Technologies at Securustechnologies.tech/case-studies.