The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles’ (ABBP) residential reentry facility in Perry County was recently recognized for its innovation in reducing recidivism rates. Operated by GEO Reentry Services for the Alabama Department of Correction, The PREP Rehabilitation Center in Uniontown, Ala., opened in 2022 as a 90-day rehabilitation program for high-risk parolees.
Because of its innovative approach, which includes a collaboration between GEO Reentry delivering cognitive behavioral treatment and a technical college which is helping those referred to the program to earn technical certifications and readying them for employment, the Council of State Governments named ABPP as a finalist for the State Transformation in Action Recognition Award during the 2024 CSG Southern Legislative Conference this summer.
Cam Ward, Director of ABBP, accepted the award from CSG. In doing so, he explained how the program has grown steadily from a first graduating class of 10 participants to an expected capacity of 200 in the near future. He highlighted that there have been a half dozen graduating classes now, and not one participant has recidivated to date. “We’ve not had a single individual go back to prison to graduate from that program,” he said.
The program provides mental health assistance, substance use disorder treatment, education and workforce readiness services to participants. Now that Ward has seen the success of the PREP center, he said he wants to replicate a center specifically for women, and a facility in Clarke County is being eyed for this expansion.
Director Ward also highlighted the importance of private partnerships with organizations such as Alabama Power, which is hiring PREP Center graduates who have earned certifications to become lineman at salaries starting at $60,000 and higher a year.
To learn more, read coverage by The Alabama Daily News.