By Walt Williams
Financial education has long been part of the mission of the Washington, D.C.-based Industrial Bank, but in 2016, two of its employees were provided the opportunity to reach out to a population rarely covered by such efforts: Prison youth.
Melanee Woodard, VP and strategic marketing manager at Industrial Bank, and Jacqueline Boles, SVP and director of retail banking, partnered with a nonprofit organization serving and educating incarcerated youth in Maryland’s Baltimore County. Together, the two tweaked a curriculum usually presented at schools and church groups so it could be taught every Saturday over eight weeks, with the pair making the drive to nearby Baltimore on weekends to teach basic financial literacy concepts, such as budgeting and understanding credit.
Although nervous at first, the pair discovered teenagers who reminded them of their relatives and acquaintances, but whose difficult life situations led them to end up behind bars.
“We got to understand who they are, which I feel is very important: To understand them as human beings,” Woodard says.
Industrial Bank has since expanded its efforts, working with D.C. and two states to offer financial education to the incarcerated. The institution also provides banking services to the incarcerated so they can begin the process of reintegrating into society before leaving prison.
“It’s not a whole lot of money,” Woodard says about the bank’s work with the incarcerated. “It’s a lot of time, which translates into money, but what it boils down to is it’s an investment in our community.”
Financial education may be part of the solution. Industrial Bank and other institutions are giving the formerly incarcerated the knowledge and tools they need to find their financial footing as they chart a new life after prison. That is why Boles likes to think of Woodard and herself as “recidivism interrupters.”
“So when we look at the accounts [of the formerly incarcerated], they do well. They do better than some of our customers who were not incarcerated,” Boles says. “And the loyalty is there, the hope is there, the trust is there, and the relationship is there. We’ve had some who have come out and purchased homes and purchased vehicles and done amazing things. And we like to think that we’ve been a significant part of that.”
A hard life
Many people who end up in the prison system are incarcerated at a young age, either as a teenager or adult, says Joey Pagaduan, program manager at Impact Justice, a nonprofit organization that develops resources and programs to help people affected by the legal system. In many cases, those individuals have not had adults to model good financial behaviors, and most schools do not provide financial education.
There are probably several factors for why formerly incarcerated individuals are more likely to be unbanked, says Annie Harper, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. Black and Hispanic individuals are more likely to be unbanked and make up a disproportionate amount of prison populations. Low-wealth and low-income individuals are also more likely to be incarcerated and unbanked, as are people with mental health problems.
Harper’s work with mental health led her to launch the Recovery Finance Project in 2023. One of the project’s objectives is to work with community partners in New Haven, Connecticut, to provide one-on-one financial coaching and peer support for individuals who have been incarcerated and have mental health challenges.
Still, while financial education is a core part of the project, Harper cautions that education alone won’t address the problem. She suggests financial institutions also consider how they structure their programs, services and fees. And having physical branches can make a huge difference, as it gives individuals a local contact when they have questions relating to their finances.
“I think financial counseling, financial literacy and financial education can be helpful. For some people, it can be transformative,” Harper says. “But without access to financial tools and services that work for you, it’s really hard to put any of that knowledge to practice.”
Beyond education
Industrial Bank partners with nonprofit organizations and departments of correction to offer a suite of courses in prisons and jails. The curriculum covers a wide range of topics, starting with the basics of banking. Later courses cover the importance of savings and managing credit, effective communications, insurance, investments, entrepreneurship and homeownership. While Boles and Woodard prefer to provide courses in person, since the COVID pandemic the bank has also offered virtual classes.
Sometimes inmates take the courses because they are mandated. But much of the time the courses are optional, and a lesson the pair have learned is that once inmates see others taking courses, they are eager to sign up. Students are given a certificate upon graduation, along with a celebratory meal and a visit or virtual speech by bank CEO B. Doyle Mitchell. Graduates are encouraged to take what they learn and share it with their families so the cycle of education continues.
In addition, Industrial Bank offers banking services to inmates, although they don’t need to take the institution’s financial education courses to qualify. It currently holds about $300,000 in deposits for individuals who are incarcerated.
“To establish any type of bank relationship, you need to have a primary ID and a secondary ID,” Boles says. “While they’re incarcerated, we allow them to use their department of corrections ID so at least they have money and it’s available, and once they are released, they can get some money before they transition into traditional products.”
Boles and Woodard are proud of their decade of work with the incarcerated and watching it pay off as some of those individuals become bank customers. They would like to see other banks do the same, but warn that it takes commitment.
“You need to have the heart for it,” Boles says.” You have to want to do it, because it’s not always easy, and it’s not necessary for everyone. You have to find those individuals that have the desire and no fear. They have to stand in a space that can be intimidating for some and stand with confidence and know what their purpose is. They have to be able to connect with individuals who oftentimes have walls built up. They’ve gone through trauma. They don’t know what you’re doing there initially. … So it’s a process.”
Seeking partners
Partnerships with community organizations and corrections agencies are key to developing financial education resources for people who have been through the prison system. Beneficial State Bank in Oakland, California, began its work in the area in 2023 after it was approached by Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs, or CROP Organization, a nonprofit organization that helps former inmates reintegrate into society. The nonprofit was in the process of developing a program to help the formerly incarcerated develop the skills they needed to become self-sufficient, including financial skills.
“Once we understood what their objectives were and the logic behind why they created this organization, then we were excited to partner with them, because we understand how that would help and benefit formerly incarcerated individuals to avoid returning to prison,” says Rafael Rogel, VP and financial education manager at Beneficial.
Rogel developed a set of financial education lessons that could be integrated into CROP’s program using resources such as the FDIC’s Money Smart program. A large focus for CROP is personal responsibility, so Beneficial’s contribution included topics such as budgeting, opening and managing a checking count, repairing credit and buying a home.
“The key themes to focus on are money management skills,” he says about designing a financial education curriculum for the formerly incarcerated. “They need to be able to understand where the money is going, how to save money, the importance of understanding and being held accountable for decisions that they make with their money.”
Banks that want to help incarcerated individuals should seek out such partnerships, says Pagaduan at Impact Justice. He suggests that financial institutions work with community organizations that already have established in-reach in jails and prisons. They can then collaborate to tailor offerings to serve the specific needs of that population. Such efforts can go a long way toward building trust in the banking system among the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, he says.
“It all starts with reaching out to the population while they’re still incarcerated, before they get out,” he says. “Have a game plan — connect them with certified financial specialists who can walk them through, ‘You’re going to get out in a few years: What does life look like a year after you’re out? What do you want to accomplish?’
“Having that laid out for somebody that’s incarcerated, that speaks volumes not only as to inspiring them to achieve what they want to achieve, but goes a long way to building that trust,” he says.
