San Quentin State Prison - Programs

Programs

• The San Quentin Drama Workshop began at the prison in 1958 after a performance of Waiting for Godot the previous year.
• The San Quentin SQUIRES ("San Quentin Utilization of Inmate Resources, Experiences, and Studies") program, which began in 1964, is reported to be the "oldest juvenile awareness program in the United States." It involves inmates at the prison interacting with troubled youths for the purpose of deterring them from crime, and was the subject of a 1978 documentary film Squires of San Quentin. In 1983, a randomized controlled study was published that found that the program produced no overall reduction in delinquency. The program was still functional as of 2008.
• Since the 1920s, San Quentin inmates have been allowed to play baseball. Starting in 1994 inmates have played against players from outside the prison. The games occur twice a week through the summer. The team of prisoners is called the "Giants" in honor of the San Francisco Giants, who donated uniforms to the team, and the team of outside players is called the "Willing".The umpires and fans are inmates, but the coaches on the field are volunteers. Although some people question the appropriateness of baseball games being held at the prison, officials believe "organized sports is a way to keep inmates occupied and perhaps teach a few lessons on getting along with others." These games were detailed in a Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel episode on June 20, 2006.
• San Quentin has the only on-site college degree-granting program in California's entire prison system, which began in 1996 and which is currently run by the Prison University Project.
• No More Tears Program, co-founded by incarcerated men at San Quentin. This program is committed to stopping the violence in the community and changing the mindset. This program stays alive through donations, volunteers, and CDCR who come into the prison and become involved in the workshops with the incarcerated men: Changing the mindset, Response to Violence, Employability, Fixin' da Hood. All inmates and volunteers are working toward achieving the programs mission: stopping the tears of loved ones and family by being committed to stopping the youth from committing acts of violence.
• The California Reentry Program at San Quentin, begun in 2003, "helps inmates re-enter society after they serve their sentences."
• Centerforce (www.centerforce.org), a non-profit that for 40 years has been dedicated to educating, advocating, and supporting people who are incarcerated, their families, and communities impacted by incarceration, has a number of programs operating at the prison: the Peer Health Education Program, begun in the early 1990s, provides effective and culturally appropriate health information to men currently living behind the walls; the Back to Family Program provides education and support for men to effectively reunite with and support their families; a number of case management programs to assist men in re-entering their communities. These programs allow men the opportunity to not only change their own lives, but to become positive contributors to the lives of their families and the communities to which they return.
• The San Quentin News is the only inmate-produced newspaper in California and one of the few in the world.