Commissioner: Gregory C. Dozier

Director of Public Affairs: Joan Heath

16 offenders completed Lifer’s Program, 14 complete Mentor Program

FORSYTH, Ga. – On January 25, Wilcox State Prison hosted a joint graduation ceremony at the facility located in Abbeville, Ga. There were 16 men who completed the Lifer’s Program and 14 who completed the inaugural Mentor program.

“The Lifer’s Program allows those offenders with longer sentences to interact in specialized programming that helps them restore hope and purpose,” said Commissioner Gregory C. Dozier. “These men have made great strides in their personal development and are able to share this upon graduation, as part of the facility’s mentor program,” added Dozier.  

The six-month Lifers program is available to offenders who were sentenced to life with or without parole, and offenders serving 20 or more years. The program offers interactive and instructional adjustment programming to assist in guiding personal and rehabilitative development. The programming includes, Reentry, Motivation 4 Change, Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), Matrix Early Recovery Skills (ERS), Matrix Relapse Prevention, and a vocational Horticulture program.

After completion, the graduates have the opportunity to mentor younger offenders in the facility as part of the facility’s Mentor Program. The mentors use their experience to help guide and advise young offenders coming into the system that have life sentences. There were seven mentors and seven mentees at the graduation ceremony.

The GDC has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 52,000 state prisoners. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 10,500 employees.

For more information on the GDC call 478-992-5248 or visit https://gdc.georgia.gov.