For several years, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections has worked to lower the state’s incarceration rate, which remains the highest per capita in the nation.

About half of people serving time are held in local jails or placed in transitional work programs. Each year roughly 18,000 people are released from state prisons and jails across Louisiana. Many face barriers to stable housing, employment, and access to services that support successful reentry. As a result, nearly half of those released return to prison within a few years.

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To reduce incarceration and recidivism costs and lessen harm to victims, communities, and families, the Department prioritized serving people on DPS&C prison sentences at the local level—individuals who historically lacked access to state facility programs. In partnership with county sheriffs, the Department opened nine Regional Re-entry Programs offering the Standardized Pre-Release Curriculum 2010 and Certified Treatment and Rehabilitative Programs (CTRP). These programs provide work-readiness training, money management, substance use education and treatment, parenting, anger management, and other life skills before release. Participants can also earn a high school diploma if they did not graduate previously.

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Certain individuals may be eligible to enter the program when they have between six months and four years remaining on their sentence. Participants selected for the program must maintain approved employment and regularly return to the correctional facility. While enrolled, participants are responsible for covering room and board, clothing, medical care, and similar expenses, reducing the use of taxpayer funds for incarceration. Participants also contribute to public revenue by paying fines, child support, court costs, and victim restitution. Deputies from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office routinely inspect worksites and monitor participants while they are employed.

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These programs have been shown to reduce recidivism by providing people nearing release with the chance to become productive, self-sufficient members of the community rather than burdens upon it.

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Contact Major Troy Boquet via E-Mail or at 985-917-5254 for more information on having your company become part of this program.