Habersham County authorities say a partnership with a communications company has led to more than 1,500 county inmates completing learning courses while incarcerated in the last two years.
A release from the county Thursday said the partnership with Pay Tel Communications has provided more than 180 "learning tablets" to the Habersham County Detention Center at no cost to the county. The tablets are closed-network with no direct internet access and offer more than 900 courses that the county says are designed to help the inmates upon release and reduce recidivism.
The courses are through a program called "Pathway to Achieve" and it begins by assessing an inmate's likelihood to reoffend and recommends courses ranging from anger management and addiction recovery to career exploration.
“I recently saw a statistic that formerly incarcerated individuals have a nationwide unemployment rate of 27%,” Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said. “I want to give the people in our custody the ability to make a better life for themselves after incarceration.”
The program was implemented in the detention center in January of 2021, and since then county officials say more than 1,500 inmates have completed over 19,000 combined hours of course material. 27 of those inmates completed all 167 GED prep courses offered by the program.
Detention center officials say the program has helped the overall environment in the facility.
“The busier the inmates are, the better,” Habersham County Detention Center Commander Lt. Amber Chastain said. “Tablets help calm everyone down, resulting in an environment that is more tranquil, less anxious, and less aggressive.”
Some of the resources provided by the program can also be found at rise4me.com.
