A new program at the St. Louis jail is putting secure computers in the hands of incarcerated women.
Residents of the jail’s women's floor have the opportunity to leave their cells to use laptops for educational purposes for one hour three days a week. It’s the result of a collaboration among the St. Louis City Justice Center, the Office of Violence Prevention and local tech nonprofit Unlocked Labs.
The computers have UnlockEd software installed, allowing detainees access to educational materials on topics including parenting, music and meditation.
Danielle Koeller was watching a video about becoming a public speaker after incarceration, which she wants to pursue.
“Young women out there can do better. I hope to help them one day,” Koeller said. “This is helping me learn how to do that.”
Emilia Delacruz said she has been using the time to learn how to meditate.
“Being locked up in those four walls all day long, when we’re already locked up in here, it gets us out of our mind for a little bit,” Delacruz said.
Co-founders Chris Santillan and Jessica Hicklin had the idea for Unlocked Labs while incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Center in Washington County. They taught themselves how to code using books at the prison. When they were released in 2022, they officially launched the nonprofit.
“I learned how to make my own website before I'd ever seen what a website was,” Santillan said.
Unlocked Labs is based in St. Louis, but the CJC is the first location in the city to use its product. It’s also the first jail to receive the computers — the service is already available at several state prisons across the country.
More than half of the company’s staff were formerly incarcerated.
Santillan said the goal is to eventually provide computers to every floor of the St. Louis jail. This pilot program at the CJC was funded by a $175,000 grant from the Office of Violence Prevention.
“You don't hear a lot of good things, sometimes, about the justice system,” said Brett Delaria of the Office of Violence Prevention. “Here's a bright light of really trying to help with rehabilitation and change individuals' lives for the better.”
The CJC has been scrutinized due to high numbers of detainee deaths and accusations of abuse. Nate Hayward was recently hired as its new commissioner and Thomas Lillard as its provisional deputy commissioner.
“It’s a system meant to break us down, and this is something that builds us back up and gets us ready to go out into the world again,” said detainee Karina Whitfield of the computer program.
