It is the intent of the Legislature that the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, in cooperation with the Trustees of the California State University and Colleges and the Regents of the University of California, may support existing and additional programs which provide postsecondary educational opportunities and services for prison inmates, wards, and parolees of the Department of Corrections and the Department of the Youth Authority. The board of governors may support programs developed and operated cooperatively by at least one correctional institution and a two- or four-year college. Priority shall be given to programs linking more than two correctional institutions, educational agencies, parolee programs, community agencies, and potential employers. The board of governors may support existing programs and additional demonstration projects which have one or more of the following components:

(a) Academic and vocational instructional programs at the postsecondary educational level offered inside state prisons, county jails, or Department of the Youth Authority institutions.

(b) Information, counseling, and tutoring services for inmates, wards, and ex-offenders presently enrolled or interested in a postsecondary educational program.

(c) Courses for inmates and wards which also serve prison personnel and college students who are not incarcerated.

(d) Cooperative efforts linking postsecondary education programs with potential employers of ex-offenders.

(e) Research on alternative methods of assessing academic abilities of inmates and alternative ways of making available education to inmates and ex-offenders.

(Added by Stats. 1981, Ch. 470, Sec. 40.)