Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles director Cam Ward will receive the 2025 Pillar of Excellence Award from the Addiction Policy Forum next week.
Ward will be one of seven national leaders to receive the Addiction Policy Forum's annual award during an event at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on December 2.
The distinction recognizes leaders whose work transforms the landscape of addiction prevention, treatment and recovery. It honors policymakers and organizations in criminal justice who demonstrate exceptional leadership in improving response to individuals with substance use disorders and communities in need.
"We're proud to represent Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey and our excellent officers and staff by bringing this award back to the Bureau," Ward said. "Alabama's leaders have been staunch supporters of our work while our team remains dedicated to these programs that lead to reduced crime, better outcomes and safer communities across the state."
Ward has championed programs that enhance public safety and reduce recidivism while also strengthening the workforce through evidence-based reentry programming offered at a vast network of Day Reporting Centers and the Perry County PREP Center. Programs at these facilities provide comprehensive reentry and rehabilitation services to probationers and parolees across Alabama. A major component of these programs includes job training and education, which complements the counseling and substance use treatment, to give formerly incarcerated Alabamians the tools they need to succeed in reentry.
The PREP Center creates meaningful opportunities for individuals to rebuild their lives and make positive contributions to their communities. Since opening in 2022, the PREP Center maintains a zero percent recidivism rate and has helped more than 400 people find a positive path post-incarceration. It takes a comprehensive approach to ensure participants are ready to succeed in jobs, in recovery, or with their families after prison, through programming that encourages incarceration diversion as a sanction response and offers individuals an option to receive support services and resolve barriers to successful reintegration. The primary program providers at the PREP Center are GEO Group under the advisement of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Alabama Community College System and J.F. Ingram State Technical College, and Alabama Power. The model will be replicated across Alabama -- including a soon-to-open facility dedicated to women.
"PREP has become a best-practice and blueprint for what's working in reentry," Ward said. "This is a life-changing program that provides the tools, knowledge and guidance – whether that's job training, mental health counseling, or substance use treatment – for success in life after prison. Of course, this model and its results are only possible thanks to our great partners and our folks on the frontlines."
These programs are also a part of the Bureau's commitment to Reentry 2030, a nationwide initiative aimed at scaling reentry success for people transitioning from incarceration to their communities. Through this initiative, Alabama aims to reduce recidivism by 50 percent by 2030. Reentry 2030 is led by The Council of State Governments Justice Center in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Correctional Leaders Association, and JustLeadershipUSA.
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