The Florida Department of Corrections is the third largest prison system in the United States with 82,124 inmates and a recidivism rate averaging 23% (Florida Department of Corrections, 2022a, 2022b; World Population Review, 2025). Previous research has advocated for more structured and meaningful resources for occupying free time in correctional settings to decrease recidivism risk (Link & Williams, 2017). Leisure Education can address these concerns. Exchange for Change is a nonprofit organization offering skills-building courses through writing activities to incarcerated individuals. This article describes the 2023 development of a Leisure Education curriculum for a correctional population within the context of the Exchange for Change writing program. Broad outcomes for the program included enhancement of participants’ writing and verbal communication skills, as well as participants’ ability to describe the value of leisure in their own lives, their leisure motivations, and their leisure interests.
