(a) The board, acting alone or in cooperation with the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia or other relevant education agencies, shall provide overall direction of educational programs for adult offenders in the correctional system and shall exercise program approval authority. The board may enter into written agreements with other educational organizations and agencies in order to provide adult offenders with such education and employment skills most likely to encourage gainful employment and discourage return to criminal activity upon release. The board may also enter into agreements with other educational organizations and agencies to attain program certification for its vocational and technical education programs.

(b) The board shall develop and implement programs to assist adult offenders with reentry into society upon release from prison. In addition to educational and vocational programs, reentry programs may include social and behavioral programs, substance abuse counseling, mentoring programs, financial planning, physical and mental health programs, and housing and federal assistance programs.

(c) The board shall create a Program and Treatment Completion Certificate that may be issued to offenders under the rules and regulations of the board. Such certificate shall symbolize an offender's achievements toward successful reentry into society. The board's rules and regulations relating to the issuance of such certificate shall take into account an offender's disciplinary record and any other factor the board deems relevant to an individual's qualification for such certificate. The board's rules and regulations shall specify eligibility considerations and requirements for completion of such certificate. An offender who was convicted of a serious violent felony, as such term is defined in Code Section 17-10-6.1, shall not be eligible for such certificate.

(d) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to constitute a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the state, and no action shall be maintained against the state or any agency or department thereof for issuance of or failure to issue any Program and Treatment Completion Certificate.