West Caldwell, NJ, Mar 8 -

On March 5, the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility (ATEF), CEC’s 400-bed residential reentry center in Columbiana, Alabama, held a graduation ceremony for 69 male Alabama Department of Corrections’ (AL DOC) offenders. Since opening its doors in March 2008, over 1,060 AL DOC offenders have graduated the reentry program that combines intensive treatment services with vocational training designed to prepare each offender for his/her return to the community. The facility provides a positive setting and culture of rehabilitation to give offenders the skills needed to successfully reenter society.

“Each graduate has been prepared for successful community reentry at the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility. With the life-skills and vocational training services they have received at ATEF, they are better suited to become productive members of society,” said Ike Hadley, Director of ATEF.

The reentry treatment component of ATEF provided by CEC consist of individual assessments, individual and group counseling, substance abuse treatment, educational services, vocational training, skills-based trainings, family services, and aftercare/alumni services. The Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education provides “hands on” skills-based vocational training designed to increase their employability upon release that include carpentry, window framing, door framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, upholstery, sheet rock installation, welding, barbering, computer training, food service.

Community Education Centers, Inc. (CEC) is the largest provider of offender reentry and in-prison treatment services in America, operating in 19 states and the Commonwealth of Bermuda, with nearly 30,000 individuals in our daily care. CEC provides a full range of therapeutic residential and non-residential reentry services with a documented record of reducing recidivism. CEC contracts with local, county, state, and federal government agencies, as well as non-profit agencies. Also a strategic focus of the company, CEC’s Secure Facilities Division provides jail/detention management services at 17 facilities in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio.