Bill Segrest, who works closely with the women's transition center in Wetumpka, said his department wants to set up men's centers in abandoned mental health facilities in Thomas, Decatur and the Tarrant community near Birmingham.

The state's first transition center, called L.I.F.E. Tech, was started in April at the J.S. Tarwater center in Wetumpka due to the smaller number of female prisoners and parolees and its close proximity to Tutwiler prison.

Sharon Ziglar, director of L.I.F.E. Tech, said the purpose of transition centers is to ease parolees with mental health or substance abuse problems back into society after extensive counseling and job training. Ziglar said she expects parolees to graduate from the program within 4-6 months, but they are not allowed to leave the center until approved by the parole board.

"In this place, I can actually have a chance," said parolee Teresa Ann Partlow, who over the past decade served three separate prison sentences for theft. "It makes me want to get out and go to school."

With the soaring male prison population and growing number of inmates released through the parole board early release program, Segrest said it's imperative to begin setting up men's transition centers.

He said Thomasville offered its rehabilitation center while Decatur was more hesitant with its facility, which could house some 600 parolees.

"Initially, they had reservations, mainly because criminals would be housed there," Segrest said. "But if (parolees) are not in a transition center, they're going to be out in the community and they may be next door without any control except that provided by a parole officer."

Segrest, who recently took mental health and human resources officials on a tour of the Wetumpka center, said the centers will prove to be a cost-effective way to alleviate prison overcrowding and prevent repeat offenses.

"In the short term, it's cheaper than having these people in the prison system," he said. "In the long run, the recidivism rate is going to be lower. They're not going to come back."

Pardons and Paroles is looking toward the next Legislative session to fund the three projects, though the department already has garnered the support of several state agencies, including the Alabama Sentencing Commission, Department of Human Resources and the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

"It's so much better for those offenders to go through L.I.F.E. Tech than be handed $10 and a suit, and be told to sin no more," said Rosa Davis, chief assistant attorney general and an appointee to the sentencing commission. "If the issue is public safety, you are so much safer when somebody has been through a (transition center)."

Pardons and Paroles has projected that the Thomasville center would cost $1.8 million a year, including one-time renovation costs. The center would house up to 200 parolees.

The Glenn Ireland building near Birmingham, which would cost $3 million a year plus $1.5 million to renovate, could hold some 400 parolees. And the Lurleen B. Wallace center in Decatur would round out the budget, costing $5 million for the first year and renovations.

Segrest knows it will take years before the program's effectiveness is proven. Yet, many of the women at center in Wetumpka said they already have seen self-improvement from the rigorous program that combines personal counseling and higher education.

The laundry list of parenting, math, English, horticulture and GED classes -- with creative writing and other courses soon to come -- seems to be the selling point for the women, who said they never received such extensive training in prison or in work release programs.

"I've been in and out of the (prison) system, and I think this is the best place to be ... mostly because of the educational opportunities," said Sandy Havel, who was paroled in April after serving multiple sentences on drug charges. "A lot of women here don't have life skills -- they don't know how to live the right way."
  
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