23 women confined to the Madison County Jail are the first female Phase 2 Adult Re-entry graduates at the jail. The program is designed to cut down on recidivism. The goal is to have the inmates avoid making the same mistakes that got them incarcerated.

But its more than that, ” They learn how to set goals, how to create the steps to reach those goals. They also have a class in right and wrong thinking”, says Phase 2 Executive Director Shauntel Mathis. Mathis says once the women go through life skills programs, they will start to learn practical skills that will help them to get jobs once they’re released from jail and Phase 2 goes so far as to help them find jobs.

The focus is on getting the inmates to envision life after prison and to give them the tools to thrive when the sentence is up. Mathis says the next part of the program is Grow with Google, in which the women will learn technical skills, while learning financial responsibility and accountability. 

One of the inmates says she is grateful to have learned that if you have positive thoughts that more things are possible but negative thinking is non productive and that to reach large goals you first have to have small goals.

Chief Eddie Dowdy reminded the class that when he started his career in law enforcement forty-three years ago, educating and rehabilitating inmates was not a priority, so that they are fortunate to have a second chance learn skills that will benefit them when their sentences are over.

The Tennessee Department of Labor has provided tablets to allow those who never graduated from high school to obtain a GED, a program which will be offered to the females inmates as they progress through the Phase 2 Adult Re-entry program.