By Griffith Waller, Deputy Director for Governmental Affairs
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles (ABPP) was one of three state agencies nationwide this year to receive prestigious recognition for transformative state-level services and programming.
“We are proud to build a blueprint for innovative and effective reentry programming that drastically reduces recidivism and shows how second chances affect families, communities and job-creators across the state,” Alabama Bureau of Pardons & Paroles Director Cam Ward said. “We are grateful to all of our partners involved in the PREP Center and look forward to the exciting work ahead!”
The Council of State Governments named ABPP as a finalist for the State Transformation in Action Recognition Award during the 2024 CSG South Southern Legislative Conference last week at the Greenbrier in West Virginia. A panel of legislators and leaders from across the South listened as Ward delivered a presentation outlining the impact of ABPP’s Perry County PREP Center.
Opened in April 2022, the PREP Center provides reentry and rehabilitation services for probationers and parolees statewide, encouraging incarceration diversion as a sanction response and an option for justice-involved individuals to receive support services and resolve barriers to successful reintegration. Its success is founded in public-private partnerships with program providers including Alabama Power, GEO Group under the advisement of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, and J.F. Ingram State Technical College.
The 90-day program provides mental health assistance, substance use disorder treatment, education and workforce readiness services to participants. Most recently, Alabama Power launched a tree-trimming training program that provides a path to steady, good-paying jobs for PREP graduates.
“Alabama Power is a proud partner with the Alabama Bureau of Pardons & Paroles as well as J.F. Ingram State Technical College to provide training to individuals preparing for reentry into the workforce,” a statement from the company said. “Thanks in part to tree trimmers across the state, Alabama Power has a reliability percentage of 99.98 percent. We are grateful for our Utility Tree Trimming Program at the Perry County PREP Center in Uniontown, Alabama.”
Through a combination of the PREP Center and Day Reporting Centers, 270 individuals on probation and parole have graduated from the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles reentry programming. Zero graduates of the PREP Center have reoffended, while approximately 15.8 percent of those who have graduated from the Day Reporting Centers reoffended within three years of release – which is nearly less than half of the state’s recidivism rate. PREP participants have completed 1,909 hours of coursework in subjects ranging from life skills, employment skills and on-site vocational programs to GED classes, community service and substance use treatment. The success at PREP has led to expansion plans that include increasing participant capacity, offering CDL and fiber optics infrastructure installation training, expanding medication assisted treatment programs, building new community-based partnerships and replicating the PREP model.
