In May of 2021, V3 Magazine published a cover story about Sheriff Dave Roberson as he began the first few months of his first term in office. Below is an excerpt:
In his first order of business upon his election, Sheriff Roberson established the groundbreaking program F.R.E.E.D. (Floyd Re-Entry Education and Discharge), and named Jenn Cronan Offender Services Unit Manager. The program’s mission is to increase public safety and reduce recidivism by providing positive opportunities to transition offenders from jail to the community.
Recidivism is a central concern for the criminal justice system as it often implicates the effectiveness of rehabilitation and probation programs as well as the performance of prisons. Research suggests those with mental illness have a 9-15% higher likelihood of recidivating than those without diagnoses.
This is the statistic the Sheriff’s Office hopes to tackle in their F.R.E.E.D. program. However, no data has been collected to measure recidivism in Georgia’s jails, making the Sheriff’s Office’s F.R.E.E.D. program the first of its kind. The program is bold and unique in its application to the jail system where mental illness may have a large role to play in its recidivism numbers.
Click here to read the full article online.
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