Rosalyn Warren took the proposal to Alabama’s elected leaders
In 2017, ALPRP founder Rosalyn Warren began this journey by emailing every Alabama state senator and representative. The outreach asked state leaders to consider a comprehensive approach to prison reform centered on accountability, counseling, education, vocational development, structured work, and preparation for release.
The proposal did not begin as a technology project or a response to a single news cycle. Its central question was already present: if Alabama requires people to serve time, what should that time produce for victims, correctional employees, families, taxpayers, and public safety?
The Original Framework
The stage architecture was present from the beginning
The original presentation proposed four developmental levels followed by release. Advancement required demonstrated progress rather than the passage of time alone. Although names and operating details later changed, the foundational movement—from stabilization to education, work, responsibility, and prepared reentry—remains recognizable in today’s ALPRP.
Level 1: Revive
Accountability, intensive counseling, physical activity, meditation, and a highly structured daily routine.
Level 2: Rebuild
Education, marketable trades, continued counseling, improved living conditions, and increasing responsibility.
Level 3: Renew
Paid work, socialization, continued education, and preparation for greater responsibility.
Level 4: Reinforce
Advanced work, financial preparation, soft skills, reentry planning, and opportunities to mentor others.
Release
Identification, banking, budgeting, housing, employment planning, a résumé, transcripts, and a comprehensive release plan.
The original framework also addressed correctional-officer safety and wellness, paid work, savings, restitution, family responsibilities, victim services, identification documents, housing, employment, and release planning. These ideas became more detailed as ALPRP evolved.
Refinement, Not Rebranding
What changed—and why
ALPRP did not preserve every early detail unchanged. Research, updated correctional data, policy review, and a broader understanding of victims, staff, families, parole, and reentry led to substantial refinement.
One important example is the current Stage 3: Rebuild. The original presentation associated its third level with two-person rooms and work-release programs. The established current model deliberately changes that: Stage 3 remains entirely inside the secure institution, uses six-resident rooms, and permits no off-site employment, furloughs, or work release. Eligible off-site employment begins in Stage 4: Restore.
The language also evolved from four “levels” to the public identity used today: Five Stages. One Correctional Journey.
The Sway is the origin story—not the current proposal
The original Microsoft Sway is preserved because it documents where ALPRP began and demonstrates the continuity of its core purpose. Current policies, terminology, housing standards, technology safeguards, and stage requirements are governed by the current ALPRP website.