Local Nonprofit Works To Lower Oklahoma Incarceration Rates

Women in Oklahoma have the highest incarceration rate in America per capita. 

According to former Oklahoma House Speaker Kris Steele, Oklahoma men are in second place. 

Steele heads up The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM). 

He said through education, training and employment opportunities, the non-profit is having some success in driving those numbers down. 

Laterrian Porter said he’s a former drug dealer who did two stints in prison. 

He said TEEM has helped him get a job at a local restaurant, and he’s been on the honor roll for three straight semesters at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City.

“You have to develop a support system. You have to develop a support system, because coming out of prison, if you don’t have nobody, try to do it on your own is hard,” he said.