Penn Prison Education and Re-Entry Initative (PERI)
About PERI
The Penn Prison Education and Reentry Initiative (Penn PERI) is a university-wide program that aspires to coordinate Penn’s existing engagement with the criminal justice system, expand educational and employment opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students, and create evidence-based programs to reduce the costs of mass incarceration in the City of Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth.
Why PERI?
The costs are relational.
As loved ones are locked up, and harm is perpetuated in the community without accountability. Penn Peri recognizes that mass incarceration dramatically impacts Penn’s neighboring communities while also recognizing its harm to faculty, staff, students and alumni.
The costs are financial.
Penn PERI demonstrates how private institutions can effectively partner with the public sector to reduce both the visible and hidden costs of mass incarceration. By creating evidence-based programs that expand educational and employment pathways, along with access to healthcare and legal support, Penn PERI demonstrates how the private sector can support the public sector and reduce the seen and unseen costs of mass incarceration.>
Initiatives Under Development
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01
Work-Based Learning Program
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02
Pathways for Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates
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03
Conflict Resolution Program Workshops
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04
For-Credit Courses and Degree Programs
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05
Medical Education and Carceral Healthcare
Partnering with a team of experienced faculty from Perelman Medical School, The School of Nursing, the School of Social Policy and Practice, the Graduate School of Education, and the Wharton School of Business, Penn PERI aspires to create the first Work-Based Learning Program in the Commonwealth. Incarcerated interns will have an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in the fields of public health, user experience research and technology, and business and management. They will gain employer-recognized certifications and join a team of Penn faculty, staff and students and second chance employers in the Philadelphia area to discuss existing problems in the field and pose solutions.
Partnering with Villanova University, Penn PERI will provide scholarships (Starting Fall 2026) for formerly incarcerated college graduates across the country to pursue their post-baccalaureate education at Penn. Penn PERI seeks to reimagine what reentry means by providing opportunities for highly motivated formerly incarcerated college graduates from across the country.
Penn PERI is currently partnering with the PA DOC to support the launch of an intergenerational housing unit at SCI-Chester focused on conflict resolution. Penn is currently running workshops and establishing a space for dialogue, peace, discovery and growth through education. Recent workshops have included: “Life Hacks: Tools and Tips for Navigating the 20th Century Technology,” “Directions of Hip-Hop,” “The Advocacy Lab,” “Negotiations,” “Design Thinking,” “Free Write: Exploring Past, Present, and Future,” and “Math in the Courtroom.” Workshops are co-taught by interdisciplinary teams and most teams include formerly incarcerated people.
Penn PERI is currently planning to offer for-credit courses and a degree program for incarcerated students through Penn’s School of Liberal and Professional Studies. (More soon!)
Penn PERI has been working with a team of medical students to enhance elective coursework designed to improve care of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated patients, while also working with a committed team of doctors at the Perelman School of Medicine to better understand the costs incarceration on Penn Health Systems and the need to ensure there is a continuity of care and clinics to support the healthcare of those returning to society.
Program Director
John Fantuzzo
Administrative Director, Penn Prison Education and Reentry Initative
johnfant@upenn.edu