MU researcher Dr. Kelli Canada has received a $2.8 million grant to carry out an improvement plan in five Missouri prisons over the next five years - with a goal of improving skills for people leaving prison.
The four-tiered improvement plan is designed to reduce the prison re-entry rate by better equipping individuals in prison with skills to be successful after release. And it’s split into four categories: staff training, changes to physical spaces within prisons, personal skill building for residents, and community connections.
Canada, associate director of research in MU’s school of social work, received $2.8 million from Arnold Ventures to lead the project. Arnold Ventures is a philanthropic organization that provides funding to researchers working to improve infrastructure in fields related to criminal justice, higher education and public finance.
This is Canada’s second project with Missouri prisons in recent years. In 2022, Canada led initiatives with Moberly Correctional Center in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Corrections.
“It's been great,” Canada said. “We have a really good working relationship. The Department of Corrections want to rehabilitate people too, they want to retain their staff. They want to make it a healthy environment. We try to work together on those shared goals and figure out how best we can do that.”
Specific goals of the new initiative include teaching prison staff to use more humanizing language, restructuring prison space to offer residents more privacy and teaching residents to cook meals for their friends and family when they visit.
“Prisons are really hard to live and work in,” Canada said. “People don't necessarily come out of those environments any better than the day that they stepped in. And we actually have a lot of evidence to suggest the exact opposite of that.”
Canada’s educational background is in psychology and mental health. She said she often thinks about the mental health of residents and her work focuses on making time in prison healthier and more productive.
Canada’s project begins April 1, with a goal of completion in 2029.
