GED gives MDOC Monroe Co. inmates a chance at success
Work Center inmates studying for GED as part of a new program
MONROE COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – Once a week, Judy Carpenter helps lead a group of MDOC inmates as they take a class to prepare for their GED test.
The inmates are part of the Monroe County Work Center. They do various work in the community, as they are serving their sentences.
Monroe County will be their final stop before release, and work center administrator Scotty Clark says it’s not unusual for inmates to lack even basic paperwork.
“We try and get social security cards, provisional driver licenses, anything we can to help when they are released from here, so they have a better chance,” Clark said.
Part of having a better chance includes getting that GED.
Carpenter said she enjoys working with the students.
“I find that most of them are very intelligent, very motivated, it makes a difference on their parole, probation, of course, they have to have a job once they get out and can’t do that unless you have that little certificate,” Carpenter said.
This is the first GED class for Work Center inmates. They started in October and are almost ready to take the tests in reading, writing, history, math, and science to get their GED.
“Our hope for them is they get a great job and are productive citizens, establish themselves, and be successful,” Clark said.
“I hope it is a turning point, so when they leave, their life can be different and they can see there is another path and this may be the first thing they succeeded at in a very long, maybe in a whole lifetime, where they felt like they started and finished something and did it well,” Carpenter said.
Because of MDOC guidelines, we cant show faces of the GED students. But one inmate told me off camera, he is looking forward to getting his GED and new opportunities for a fresh start, once he is released.
All of the participants in the GED program and the Work Center are non violent offenders.
