Giving Compass' Take:

• Fast Company reports on a course taught at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York which helps people who served long prison stints learn computer and other tech skills that others may take for granted.

• How can nonprofits support more education for citizens returning to society? Opening more pathways to opportunities can reduce recidivism and restore hope for many.

• Here's why new approaches are needed to help formerly incarcerated people.

Since Wayne Booker returned home to New York City last year after a prison sentence of 28 years and nine months, he’s felt that “time is moving really fast.” He got involved with the Fortune Society, a nonprofit that works with families and people who have interacted with the justice system, and though he’s thriving in his work, the systems supporting it felt unfamiliar. “The world today revolves around technology,” Booker says, and that simply was not the case when his sentence began.

Elvin Garcia feels similarly. He’s been home for three years after a 32-year sentence and now works full-time as a family services counselor at the Fortune Society. What’s stood out to him is that now, “in society, if you don’t have basic computer skills, it’s more and more difficult to navigate.” For people returning home from prison, especially after long sentences, the task of catching up on the new technological developments that unfold every day is enormous but necessary.

Through a new course, though, both Booker and Garcia have begun to overcome that hurdle. Garcia’s learned to sync his email and social media accounts onto his mobile phone, which he now uses to manage his appointments for a job for which he’s frequently on the move. Booker has begun to investigate how social media can help him better communicate with the people he works with through the Fortune Society.

The course, Tech 101, is run through the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

Read the full article about helping former prisoners get caught up on tech by Eillie Anzilotti at fastcompany.com.