Formerly incarcerated people who can’t find work after prison face a 50 percent chance of returning to prison. Those who do find work have a better chance of staying out. San Quentin State Prison, California’s oldest prison, has several programs such as arts, continuing education and electronics training to help inmates prepare for life outside its walls. One of these programs, Quentin Cooks, helps inmates learn kitchen skills and get certified to work in the food service industry after they get out of prison. But there are challenges that rehabilitation and transitional programs can’t prepare you for — the shock of being released into a Bay Area that looks and feels very different from the one you left.

Guest: Mary Franklin Harvin, KQED reporter