COBB COUNTY, Ga. — After months of work, the Cobb County Adult Detention Center now offers the General Education Development (GED) test onsite for its detainees.
Previously, detainees at the jail ready to take the GED were taken to other jails in the metro area.
"It took four months of hard work and coordination to ensure our detainees had the proper documentation needed to get funding for the test and to ensure rigorous site standards at the jail were met," said Capt. Yaminah Holt, who oversees detainee programming at the county jail. "I'm happy to announce that one of our detainees passed the first onsite GED test this week."
The county sheriff's office partnered with employment website CobbWorks and the Cobb County School District to make the onsite testing possible.
The first onsite GED test at the jail occurred Tuesday, May 23. Testing will be available at the detention center every Tuesday for detainees, Holt said.
According to a release sent by the sheriff's office, studies show people with a GED have higher earning potential and are less likely to face unemployment.
While the onsite testing is new, the detention center began offering GED instruction courses to inmates in 2022.
The detention center is one of several jails and organizations working to provide opportunities to those behind bars.
"We are in a day in time where we have to think outside the box," Holt pointed out. "We have to be able to reach our detainees, our communities in different ways, and by doing so, we have started with this form of rehabilitation."
Georgia State University's Perimeter College celebrated on May 5 the graduation of its first-ever class of incarcerated students from Walker State Prison in Rock Spring. The graduating class is part of the Georgia State University Prison Education Project (GSUPEP).
Other examples in the metro include a welding program offered by the Henry County Sheriff's Office for inmates at the county jail.
In Cobb County, the onsite GED test is a way for the jail to help its detainees.
"In the long run, it's going to not only better that individual, but it's going to make them a more productive person when they get out. They will have the bare minimum that they need to join the workforce," said Holt.
Detainees that take the GED test must be qualified, Holt explained. They are first interviewed and tested to determine their education level before assigning them to an instruction course. The individuals are kept in the jail's compliance dorms, have been in custody for at least 30 days, and comply with the facility's rules.
The future scholars taking part in the onsite GED testing have been very receptive and enjoy the opportunity.
"The joy that they have shown and the eagerness is very welcoming, and it just shows that we are going in the right direction in providing them the assistance they need," said Holt.