Inmates graduate from 5th Prime for Life course

Another group of male inmates at the Rabun County Detention Center have taken a step in the right direction toward changing their lives by completing the fifth offering of a drug treatment course implemented this year within the jail.

Rabun County Sheriff Chad Nichols announced that 10 male inmates graduated from Prime for Life (PFL) at the courthouse last week on May 14.

This is the second graduation ceremony held for the inmates who successfully completed it where friends and loved ones were welcomed to attend for support and encouragement.

PFL is a 20-hour self-motivated evidence-based course taught by Howard Dowdle. The treatment program allows inmates to learn about high-risk situations while facing addiction and how to avoid certain lifestyle habits that could hinder their sobriety.

Nichols recognized the specific need to offer a program in the Rabun County Detention Center (RDDC) that could be offered to inmates who wish to change their addictive tendencies, and so PFL was implemented last year.

“As I have said previously, we will continue to aggressively pursue incarcerating drug dealers that target our community, but as your sheriff, I will continue to look for ways to provide services to our inmates which will hopefully keep them from making poor decisions that have led to them becoming incarcerated, to begin with,” said Nichols. “Providing this course gives inmates another tool in their toolbox that they can use to fight their addiction once they are released back into our community.”