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Gov. Riley to attend LIFE Tech opening Gov. Bob Riley is expected to attend the dedication ceremony of the Thomasville LIFE Tech Center Thursday. The L.I.F.E. (Life Skills Influenced by Freedom and Education) Tech Transition Center represents a partnership between Governor Bob Riley’s Office, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, Alabama Southern Community College, Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation/Human Resources Development Institute, Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, and the Alabama Department of Corrections as well as other state agencies and community resource providers. Speakers at the Open House program will include Governor Bob Riley, Senator Pat Lindsey, Representative Thomas Jackson, Mayor Sheldon Day, Alabama Parole Board Chair Sidney Williams and Associate members Velinda Weatherly and Robert Longshore, Mental Health and Mental Retardation Commissioner John Houston, Department of Rehabilitation Services Commissioner Steve Shivers, Alabama Southern Community College President, John A. Johnson and LIFE Tech Director Darrell Morgan, among others. The LIFE Tech Center for male parolees opened its doors on April 1, 2006 with the purpose of reducing recidivism by helping parolees make the transition from prison to the community after undergoing extensive mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment as well as vocational training and life skills training. Currently there are 228 parolees in the program. Alabama Southern Community College provides all educational training for the LifeTech Institute. The LifeTech Institute trains parolees for successful entry into the world of work and helps reduce Alabama prison overcrowding. “It’s imperative for the safety or our families that we prepare prisoners who are being paroled to have a crime-free and drug-free re-entry into our communities. We can keep our recidivism rate as low as we possible can and improve public safety. We will no longer give parolees just $10 and a bus ticket, but the skills needed to make a transition back into society,” said Alabama Governor, Bob Riley. Life Skills The LifeTech Institute teaches life skills and technical skills to help parolees make the transition from prison to society. “Alabama Southern provides the education component of the program as well as statewide job placement services in coordination with business and industry,” said Dr. John A. Johnson, President of Alabama Southern Community College. “Housing and other components of the parole transition center are provided by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. This partnership is designed to reduce prison overcrowding by preparing deserving individuals for job success and life success, thereby also reducing the likelihood that they will return.” Technical Skills Alabama Southern has created three 15-week semesters of study that lead to shot-term certificates in welding, residential electricity, carpentry, painting and drywall, inventory clerk, landscape maintenance and building maintenance. “Life Tech provides more that just job training,” said Dr. John A. Johnson, President of Alabama Southern Community College. “Its life skills components are aimed at changing the way a person looks at life as well as creating skills for personal success.” The residents are individuals whom the parole board believes to be suitable for a community caseload after completing the LifeTech program. The program consists of an 11 week intensive treatment phase followed by the15-week educational component. Those who successfully complete the program will be transferred to a community parole caseload and monitored to ensure compliance with continued aftercare programming, as well as other conditions of parole.
To date, 40 parolees have successfully completed the program and 41 more should graduate the program on December 8th.
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