One of our Macon Violence Prevention (MVP) partners was recognized by the Georgia Department of Community Supervision (DCS) earlier this month for their efforts in making a difference in our community. On October 9, DCS gave Roger Jackson, founder of the Adult Readiness Program, the Private Stakeholder of the Year Award.  

“To be chosen out of so many other great organizations around the State of Georgia is a tremendous accomplishment for the staff and our graduates who have come through the program,” said Jackson. “We have always believed we can put the Adult Readiness Program up against any program in the country and go toe-to-toe with changing lives and the mindset of these individuals that we serve in Macon-Bibb and surrounding counties.” 

This award is given to a private company partnership with one of DCS’s many departments throughout the state that help carry out its mission. The Adult Readiness Program works with probationers, parolees, or individuals with a criminal record by training and helping these individuals gain an interview or job.  

Since beginning the program in 2020, it has had 26 graduating classes, and 234 of 245 people in it have gotten interviews or landed a career changing job. 

“We want our graduates to land a career opportunity that they never in a million years would have thought all this would have happened to them,” said Jackson. “We want people with criminal records, the unemployable that society has cast aside, and that no one believed they could turn their lives around.” 

The Adult Readiness Program is an MVP grant recipient of $135,000.  

“Having Roger Jackson and his team be part of MVP is an honor and I am so proud of all of their work with the Adult Readiness Program,” said MVP Coordinator Jeremy Grissom. “This is what MVP is all about. Giving our neighbors an opportunity to be great and make decisions that will make a difference in their lives and future generations.” 

“One of the most important things is how many lives this program affects. It’s not just the students, but their families. We have 31 participants in this class /cohort that are parents to 74 children,” said Jackson. “That’s the effect this program has on our city; someone in that household has a career or good paying job. Children can now say my mom or pop is going to work, rather than on the corner hanging out selling drugs or committing a crime to feed their family.” 

About the Macon Violence Prevention Program    

Macon Violence Prevention is an evidence-based, multifaceted program created to address public safety in Macon-Bibb County. Supported and funded by the consolidated government, MVP is a community-wide effort that brings together elected officials, community leaders and representatives from more than 20 agencies, organizations and departments.   

This summer, Macon-Bibb and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia announced more than $800,000 in grant money for 25 non-profit organizations. Since the inception of MVP in 2021, $1,685,000 has been awarded to 40 different organizations’ missions.   

Though MVP is still fairly new in its implementation, it has already helped the community realize significant results in becoming safer. From 2022 to 2023, Macon-Bibb had a nearly 43% reduction in homicides, from 70 to 40. The reduction in homicides for children (those 18 years old and younger) went from 15 in 2022 to 5 in 2023 – which is a 66.7% reduction in just one year.     

While other cities in Georgia and around the country also had a decline in their homicide rate, Macon-Bibb County’s 43% far surpassed them. Atlanta had a 21% decline, Columbus a 12%, Savannah a 13%, Mobile, Alabama a 21%, and Jackson, Mississippi a 14%.   

The MVP program operates under the guidance of the MVP Strategic Plan, which was introduced in June of 2021. Created by community stakeholders and violent crime experts, this strategic plan combines data and research with community feedback to implement proven solutions that reduce violent crime and strengthen the community over time.