Leon County inmates graduate from a re-entry program after 120+ hours of training and will now mentor the next class before returning to the community.
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Leon County inmates graduate from the re-entry program and prepare to mentor next class
Wednesday marks a milestone for a group of Leon County inmates who completed the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Re-Entry Program and their work isn’t over yet.
The Leon County Sheriff’s Office celebrated its 2026 Re-Entry Program graduates after each completed at least 120 hours of programming that includes job skills training, life skills and re-entry education, Moral Reconation Therapy and virtual reality career exploration.
“This program taught me that I’m not alone, that the bad choices that I kept making, I can make good decisions. And not to think negative anymore and to stay positive and keep going forward.”
That was the experience of Freddy Strain, one of this year’s graduates.
“Also, I learned with the VR virtual reality, it kind of helps you with everything, and so does the seven habits; it actually teaches you to be a better person, to think before you act and to think about everything in life and not just what you are doing in the moment,” Strain said.
The programming takes place inside the Leon County Detention Facility. Images provided by the Sheriff’s Office offer a look at that programming an area local media has not had access to since 2020.
But the support isn’t meant to stop once graduates walk out the door. The Big Bend After Reentry Coalition offers continued assistance.
“The Big Bend After Reentry Coalition, uh, we have a welcome center where we provide one-on-one, uh, assistance to folks who have been incarcerated either recently or sometime in their past. We can help connect them to community resources that they may need. We can help them build resumes. We have free classes and programming that they can access. We have men’s peer support, women’s peer support,” Elaine Webb said.
Those connections can include help finding employment and housing, continuing education or vocational training, and accessing treatment and other support services.
After completing at least 120 hours of programming, the graduates will now become mentors for the next class.
Fellow graduate Woody Lee echoed a similar message about what the program meant to him.
“This program taught me that im not alone, that the bad choices that I kept making, I can make good decisions. And not to think negative anymore and to stay positive and keep going forward,” Lee said.
The goal is making sure that when these graduates eventually return to the community, they don’t just leave with a certificate but with a plan for what comes next.
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