Educational and reentry programs at Clarke County Jail: GED, AA/NA, tablets, and construction training

Clarke County Jail offers GED study courses through jail-issued tablets. No classroom required - your loved one can work toward their diploma right from their housing unit.

The tablets also include a GED pre-test. It pinpoints which subjects need the most work, so study time goes where it actually helps instead of guessing.

For extra help, GED learners can get tutoring from volunteers and University of Georgia students. That one-on-one support can make a real difference for anyone who learns better with someone walking them through the tough spots.

When they're ready to test, Athens Technical College proctors the official GED exam right at the jail. No transfer required - they can go from tablet practice to the real test without leaving the facility.

Beyond GED prep, Clarke County Jail provides EDOVO tablet apps at no cost. EDOVO covers educational, vocational, and rehabilitative content - turning the tablet into more than entertainment and giving your loved one a structured way to build skills.

Clarke County Jail offers Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings. Volunteer facilitators from the recovery community lead these groups, keeping sessions grounded in real-world experience.

Meetings happen every Monday evening on a rotating schedule - alternating between men and women, and between AA and NA. Encourage your loved one to ask staff about the rotation for their housing unit so they know when their next meeting falls.

For hands-on job skills, there's the Future Foundations Jail Resident Construction Program - a partnership between the Clarke County Sheriff's Office and Athens Area Habitat for Humanity focused on construction training.

The program aims to do more than teach a trade. Future Foundations connects job training with affordable housing construction - giving participants marketable skills while contributing to the community.

Currently, construction classes run weekly for women. If your loved one is in the women's housing area, this is a program worth asking about by name.

Families Support

• ✓ Encourage your loved one to ask staff how to enroll in GED study, EDOVO programming, AA/NA, or Future Foundations (enrollment steps aren’t listed in the available program summary).
• ✓ Ask what the current schedule looks like for AA/NA, since meetings rotate weekly between men and women and between AA and NA.
• ✓ If they’re working on the GED, have them ask about the tablet pre-test and what tutoring support is available.
• ✓ If they’re close to being ready for the GED exam, ask what “ready to test” means locally and how Athens Technical College proctoring is scheduled.
• ✓ For Future Foundations, confirm whether the weekly construction classes are available for their housing area (the summary specifies the current offering is for the female population).
• ✓ Keep your questions specific: program name, timing, eligibility, and what they need to do next. That usually gets a clearer answer than asking generally about “classes.”