Re:Coded — Digital Skills Bootcamps for Displaced Youth
Iraq
A non-profit running intensive coding and IT bootcamps for refugees, IDPs and host-community youth in Erbil, Iraq, pairing technical training …
Good practice
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★ 96
The Last Mile — Software Engineering Education Inside US Prisons
United States of America · San Quentin · See the United States of America profile
Since 2010, The Last Mile has taught incarcerated Californians offline software engineering despite no prison internet. Now in 16 facilities across 7 US states, it reports 85% post-release employment; a UC Irvine study found 85% non-return-to-custody for CALPIA participants.
1,200+
Students served (2010-present)
85%
Employment within 6 months of release (self-reported)
85% (vs >50% statewide recidivism)
CALPIA non-return-to-custody after 3 years
Details
- Maturity
- Established
- Promoter
- The Last Mile, with the California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA)
- Period
- 2010–present
- Keywords
- prison education, coding bootcamp, workforce reentry, digital skills
Context
The Last Mile, founded in 2010 by Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti at San Quentin State Prison, teaches incarcerated people software engineering and web development in offline, sandboxed coding environments, progressing from HTML/CSS to full-stack development and culminating in public Demo Days. It has grown to 16 facilities across seven US states.
Results
Over 1,200 students served; the programme reports an 85% employment rate within six months of release and that 75% of graduates continue their education, with alumni at Slack, Dropbox and Adobe. A University of California, Irvine study of implementing partner CALPIA found an 85% non-return-to-custody rate after three years against a statewide recidivism rate above 50% - for CALPIA's broader inmate workforce programme, not coding students specifically.
Implementation
Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
- C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-07-03
- The Last Mile, with the California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA) — accessed 2026-07-03
- The Last Mile — accessed 2026-07-03
- Wikipedia — The Last Mile (prison rehabilitation program) — accessed 2026-07-03
- CDCR Inside CDCR — Employers visit CALPIA, Last Mile at San Quentin — accessed 2026-07-03
Attachments
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