In 2024, I first visited York Correctional Institution. It’s the state’s only women’s correctional institute; it’s down the street from where I live in Niantic, but I didn’t know much about the place or the 900 incarcerated people who lived there. When I went, I learned about life ins ide prison from the incarcerated women we spoke to. But I left thinking about what happens after prison. Nick Menapace As I spoke with incarcerated women, I heard the same message again and again. They weren’t asking for sympathy or shorter sentences. They weren’t asking anyone to excuse the mistakes that had brought them there. They wanted something much simpler: the opportunity to learn skills that would help them build a life when they returned home. That conversation has stayed with me because it raised a question we don’t ask often enough: What is the purpose of our correctional system? Certainly, incarceration serves an important purpose. It protects the public, holds people accountable, and provides justice for victims. Those responsibilities are essential. But if the overwhelming majority of incarcerated people will one day return to our communities, then public safety doesn’t end at the prison gate. We should also ask what happens next. Do people leave prison prepared to support themselves, provide for their families, and become productive members of their communities? Or do they leave carrying the same barriers that contributed to their incarceration in the first place? Since becoming a Connecticut legislator, I have visited York a few times; it’s so close that I even ride my bike there. Recently, I returned to York for the graduation of the first class of Connecticut’s Building Trades Training Institute . Through a partnership involving the Department of Correction, the Department of Labor, Connecticut’s Building Trades, and other labor organizations, six women earned industry-recognized credentials and a direct pathway to apprenticeship opportunities upon release. One graduate said something I won’t forget: “My past doesn’t define my future.” That single sentence captures what this program is really about. It isn’t about being soft on crime. It isn’t about overlooking the harm that crime causes. It’s about recognizing that accountability and opportunity are not mutually exclusive. If someone has served their sentence and is returning to society, every one of us has a stake in whether they succeed. That is why I believe we need to rethink how we measure success in corrections. Too often, we focus on what happens inside prison: how many people are incarcerated, how facilities operate, or what programs are offered. Those things matter. But the true measure of success is what happens after someone walks out the front gate. Did they find stable employment? Did they reunite with their family? Did they become financially independent? Most importantly, did they avoid returning to prison? Those are the outcomes that make our communities safer. They also make fiscal sense. It costs tens of thousands of dollars each year to incarcerate one person. Every individual who successfully rebuilds their life instead of returning to prison represents fewer victims, lower correctional costs, and another skilled worker contributing to our state’s economy. That is not simply compassion. It is sound public policy that everyone should be able to get behind. The building trades program also arrives at an important moment. Connecticut employers are searching for electricians, pipefitters, carpenters, plumbers, and other skilled tradespeople. At the same time, many people leaving prison struggle to find employers willing to give them a chance. Programs like this help bridge that gap. I hope this first graduating class is only the beginning. Connecticut should continue investing in vocational education and workforce partnerships inside our correctional facilities, evaluate them rigorously, and expand those that demonstrate results. When I first visited York Correctional Institute, I met women asking for an opportunity. This year, I watched six of them take the first step toward earning one. That experience reinforced something I believe about government more broadly. We should judge public policy not simply by what it promises, but by what it accomplishes. The success of our correctional system should not be measured by how many people pass through it. It should be measured by how many people leave it prepared to build a better life and never have to come back. Nick Menapace is a teacher and Democratic State Representative of the 37th House District serving East Lyme, Salem, and Montville. ...read more read less