The Board receives national recognition for the Max-Out Reentry (M.O.R.E.) program

ATLANTA – Sunday night, January 11, 2015, the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) announced the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles as the winner of the 2015 APPA Award for Excellence in Community Crime Prevention. The Parole Board won the award for the Max-Out Reentry or M.O.R.E. program. The M.O.R.E. program is a collaborative effort between the Parole Board and the Department of Corrections providing reentry services to inmates who would otherwise max-out their sentences in prison and be released to the community without any transitional assistance.

Executive Director of Parole Michael Nail accepted the award on behalf of the agency.

"It is an honor for us to receive this award and be recognized for the hard work by all of those who were involved in this collaborative effort. This truly shows that positive change can be achieved within the criminal justice system by working together towards a common goal,” stated Nail.

The M.O.R.E. program provides transitional services to inmates who are statutorily ineligible for parole requiring them to max-out their sentences in prison and to inmates who have previously been denied parole by the Board. Specialized parole officers are assigned to the Department of Corrections’ Transitional Centers (TC) to assist the offenders with services to include access to mental health and substance abuse services, stable housing and employment opportunities prior to their release from the TC. The Board and the Department of Corrections screen inmates for placement in the program. Inmates must be within 12-18 months of the maximum release date to be eligible for the program and have no community supervision to follow as a part of the sentence.

The APPA Award for Excellence in Community Crime Prevention seeks to recognize community corrections agencies, or community crime prevention programs coordinating with a community corrections agency, that have integrated community crime prevention initiatives into the traditional roles of supervision, intervention and sanctioning of offenders.

The Parole Board’s nomination was supported by several testimonials. One such testimonial was submitted by Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Michael Boggs. Boggs is also co-chair of Georgia’s Council on Criminal Justice Reform. Judge Boggs wrote:

"In 2012, the Council noted that inmates being released from prison without any type of supervision to follow are more likely to be rearrested and reincarcerated than those who are released and then supervised in the community. With this in mind, we urged the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to provide transitional support to this group of offenders while still incarcerated. From this, the Max-Out Reentry program came into being."

Boggs added, “The M.O.R.E. program is contributing to Georgia's efforts to increase successful reintegration, reduce recidivism and improve public safety."

Another testimonial in support of the nomination came from Jay Neal, Director of the Governor’s Office of Transition, Support and Reentry. Neal wrote:

“As a result of this assistance (M.O.R.E. program), we are now seeing inmates who were previously denied parole being successfully paroled from these transitional facilities. The relationships being developed between the parole officers and the offenders are translating into opportunities for the parole officers to support the reentry of these individuals, sometimes extending beyond the mandated time of supervision.”

Daren Green is one of the many inmates benefitting from the program and he credits the program.

"Without the M.O.R.E. program I never would have made it to the TC.  The parole officer has assisted me with programs that I did not know existed.  The M.O.R.E. program has given me an opportunity to get a head start on my life after prison and has helped prepare me for my release,” stated Green.  

The M.O.R.E. program was fully implemented in January of 2013. During fiscal year 2014, nearly 500 inmates were placed in the program. Two hundred forty-one inmates successfully completed the M.O.R.E. program during the fiscal year and were released at the end of their prison sentence and another 42 inmates, previously denied parole, were granted reconsideration and received parole.

For more information on the Parole Board, please visit our website at www.pap.georgia.gov.

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