“My role as a transitional case manager is to help my participants find out what’s really going on with them and what the root of the problem is, find those high risk areas and work on them so that they can be successful once they reintegrate out into the community.”
Patricia Holloman, Transition Case manager at The GEO Group
“Academics are important because it’s a foundation. And then you’ve got to look at what are their vocational needs? Does this guy have any viable job skills? If we don’t give him something that he can do that’s going to earn a living wage when he gets home, he may be forced to make choices he’s made before, and we don’t want to see that…”
Carol Gray, Academic Counselor at The GEO Group
18 months prior to release from Rivers, inmates enroll in GEO’s award-winning Continuum of Care program (COC) that combines behavior, academic and skills training. Even though participation is voluntary, 100% of eligible participants – more than 250 men – have enrolled during the past two years. Learn more about the COC here.
Behavioral classes include Life Skills, Inside Out Dad, Thinking for a Change, Moral Reconation Therapy, Release Preparation Program, and the DC Hope House’s Father-to-Child Program.
Academic options include adult education and literacy towards a GED, which consists of four subject tests: Reasoning through Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Math. Students must achieve a total score of 580, with no single test lower than 145. Graduates receive a High School Diploma Equivalency Certificate from the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges. Students have opportunity to take the Official GED Ready Practice Tests and once they have demonstrated proficiency, they may sit for the actual exam. The GED exam is administered three times a week by staff who are certified by Pearson VUE™ as official GED Test Administrators. Graduates are honored with an official ceremony annually. 87 men have received their GED since 2018.
Vocational skill training includes keyboarding, computer applications (I and II), building construction technology, commercial driver’s license, custodial maintenance program, and Wheels of the World (wheelchair refurbishing).