APDS in the News

Technology has solved a number of important social issues that affect humanity. Education has become democratized and health information can be distributed to doctors around the world via the internet. Vaccines are delivered via drones. Apps predict earthquakes. The world is changing because of technology.

A juvenile correctional facility in southeastern Indiana started an experiment two years ago. It distributed secure tablet computers to all of the girls. The goal of the technology was to help improve the girls’ educational experiences and opportunities. But the tablets are having an impact beyond the classroom.

The U.S. prison system is absolutely massive—more than two million Americans are currently in jail, and 40 percent of inmates return to prison within three years. This also takes an economic toll—$74 billion in U.S. taxpayer money is used annually to offset correction costs for America’s 2.2 million prisoners (who represent 22 percent of the entire world prison population).

For most of the developed world, internet access is a given. Google, Amazon, Facebook offer a privileged world of communication, entertainment, shopping and education that many of us take for granted. Unless, that is, you happen to be incarcerated.

Chris Grewe, an educational publishing veteran turned founder and CEO of American Prison Data Systems, wants no repeat end-users. Founded in 2012, APDS uses plastic-enclosed tablets to securely deliver content and services to inmates. APDS aims to reduce recidivism by providing inmates with educational and vocational apps plus limited contact with the outside world.

Tablet-based systems in correctional facilities help inmates get educated, learn new skills—and maybe find a job when they’re released. In his many years teaching prisoners incarcerated in Alabama’s state correctional system, Brannon Lentz has never seen anything like it.

The data is still being collected, but the staff at the Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility is noticing the nearly 50 incarcerated young women are calmer, not filing as many grievances and reading more books.

The concept is simple: Seed inmates with feature-limited Galaxy Tab S2s. The inmates typically have access to only educational and vocational apps, through in some cases they can use the tablets to read ebooks, and prepare for upcoming court cases..

Some San Francisco jail inmates are now in possession of computer tablets they can use to do homework, read novels and prepare for their criminal cases. The tablets were distributed Wednesday to more than 100 inmates.

One in every four kids in the United States fails to complete high school on time. That’s a stat Christopher Grewe is fond of using to prove his crucial point: “If you fail to complete high school, you’re eight to 10 times more likely to end up incarcerated…

A growing number of facilities are adopting more immediate means of communication such as email from handheld devices, providing a way for inmates to stay in touch more regularly with family members.

Cutting edge technology isn’t normally available to the more than 2 million men and women jailed in the United States — cost, security concerns and a criminal justice system that has favored punishment over rehabilitation are among the reasons.

Now, tablet computing offers a scalable way to deliver education, while also helping prisons eliminate cost centers such as law libraries through digitization. (New York alone has saved $2.3 million annually by moving this material online.)