Female prisoners in Calif. prep for life outside with Autodesk certificate

Elizabeth Weise | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Women inmates graduate with computer skills A class of female inmates at California’s Folsom Prison graduated with coveted certificates in computer-aided design programs in November.

FOLSOM, Calif. — Monica Oliva is getting out of prison in November after 13 years and she's got plans — plans that include a job, a life and a lot of time on the computer.

Oliva, 37, graduated last week with a coveted certificate in three computer-aided design programs, after a grueling eight-hour-a-day, six-month course she and 17 other women completed while incarcerated at Folsom State Prison Women's Facility.

"You're talking to the happiest person in the world," Oliva said as she used a computer in the training center to show off a house she designed using AutoCAD.

Originally from Hawaii, she was imprisoned for assault with a deadly weapon. Today she hopes to find a job in the San Francisco Bay Area working as a draftsman. "I'm eager, eager to get out of here and put this stuff to use," she said.

The offenders are part of a program through the California Prison Industry Authority's Autodesk Authorization Training Center Program. They are the second class to have completed the training, which is the only Autodesk training offered in a correctional institution.

The inmates face a tough road. With less education and little work history, felons have difficulty finding jobs. A survey by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights found that for 76% of the formerly incarcerated, finding work was difficult or nearly impossible and 26% were still unemployed five years after their release. Only 40% were working full time five years after leaving custody.

Skills and jobs are what will keep them from returning to prison, the inmates were told during the graduation ceremony.

"You have figured out what it takes to be successful even in tough times," Robin Harrington, chief deputy warden for female offender programs with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told the graduates at a ceremony on the prison grounds. "You have achieved something."

Autodesk, headquartered in San Rafael, Calif., donated the software and the curriculum for the program and helped the prison find instructors.

Prison job training isn't just about stamping out license plates any more, said Charles Pattillo, general manager of California Prison Industry Board.

"These ladies have worked hard and they've learned skills that will help them get good jobs when they leave us. This certificate alone is really door-opener," he said.

So far 69 women have graduated and several have since been paroled and gotten jobs using their skills doing landscape design and drafting, he said.

Jobs for skilled mechanical drafters with CAD certification are growing at 10% in California, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The annual average salary is $52,200.

Spending the money to train inmates makes good financial sense, Pattillo said.

The overall program costs $400,000, but the average offender costs California $63,000 for a year in prison and the recidivism rate for women is 49%. While there isn't data on this particular program because it's so new, overall just 7.1% of inmates who've received technical career training return to prison, Pattillo said.

Caitlin Churchill has 10 more months at Folsom for a home-invasion offense. She says the program took a lot of hard work, but she's sure it will pay off in a job when she leaves.

"I barely even knew how to use Microsoft Word before I came into this program," the 29-year-old said.

"I've built a variety of houses, some from blueprints, some from the ground up," Churchill said. "You start with a blank page, then you begin with the blueprints and then you watch it become 3D. It's amazing."

The inmates have learned three of Autodesk's most popular programs, AutoCAD, Revit and Inventor.

"There will be so many opportunities for these women when they graduate. It’s an open field out there and we just don’t have enough of these designers to fill all the jobs there are,” said Lynn Allen, a community outreach director with Autodesk.

Oliva was already making the most of the opportunity.

"I told the representative from Autodesk that she had my dream job," she said. "I've got my resume and cover letters all written and I've been collecting business cards today so I can send them to everyone as soon as I get out."