<![CDATA[Limited instructors, facilities, and budgets have kept independence development in correctional institutions from reaching most inmates, making external partnerships a strategic necessity. This study analyzes the implementation of collaborative governance between the Class IIA Bagansiapiapi Correctional Institution and CV Rumah Tamadun, a local creative enterprise, in improving inmates' independence, and identifies its obstacles. Using a qualitative case study, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five purposively selected informants, observation, and documentation of two cooperation agreements (2022 and 2025), and analyzed with the Miles and Huberman interactive model guided by Ansell and Gash's framework. The findings show that the collaboration, running since 2022 and reaching 80 inmates, is driven by complementary needs and is strongest in tiered facilitative leadership and continuous face-to-face dialogue, which have built trust and improved inmates' skills and self-confidence. Institutional design is the weakest dimension, reflected in low document accessibility at the implementing level, limited participation (about 6.6% of the population), and no transparent recording of economic benefits. Five obstacles were identified: limited resources, scheduling and technical coordination, unequal access, weak post-release continuity and marketing, and unstandardized documentation and evaluation. The study recommends institutionalizing the collaboration through joint operating procedures, participation quotas, product portfolios, and structured post-release mentoring.]]>
