BATON ROUGE, La. – Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary James M. Le Blanc is conducting a series of statewide visits of all four Louisiana Day Reporting Centers (DRC), to meet with judges and policymakers in support of the Louisiana Prisoner Reentry Initiative. Friday, Secretary Le Blanc and local stakeholders will tour the Baton Rouge Day Reporting Center for an open house. The Department has contracted with GEO Reentry Services to operate three of the state's four reentry centers, including the Baton Rouge location. The DRC’s represent an integral part of this initiative.
What: Day Reporting Center open house
Who: Secretary James M. Le Blanc
When: February 10, 2017
9 – 11 a.m.
Where: Baton Rouge Day Reporting Center
2751 Wooddale Blvd., Baton Rouge
The Baton Rouge DRC provides community treatment and training for probationers and parolees released to community supervision. Secretary Le Blanc has been a strong proponent of Day Reporting reentry services as a way to reduce costly recidivism by helping offenders better transition back into their communities.
“Day reporting centers play an integral part in our criminal justice reform efforts,” said Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary James M. Le Blanc. “These centers are effective alternatives to revocation and incarceration, providing individualized case management, connecting parolees with the services they need, and thus helping lower recidivism, reducing incarceration costs, and making the public safer.”
DRC participants receive the ongoing treatment needed to help break cycles of criminal behavior and connections to valuable resources. Group classes include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Employment readiness and career development
- Community Connections, including links to community service providers
- Adult Basic Education and HiSET prep resources and referrals
- Life skills and parenting classes
- Drug and alcohol classes
“We focus on changing old mindsets and behavior, as well as training individuals in the skills needed to succeed in their communities,” said Candace Wilkinson, the DRC program manager. “The DRC has become an important support system for probationers and parolees at high risk of failing their conditions of release.”
The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections has successfully partnered with GEO Reentry since 2010, with the first opening of reentry centers in Louisiana. Today, GEO Reentry operates three intensive day reporting centers in Baton Rouge, Bossier City and Covington. Nationally, the company operates 51 community-based day reporting centers; 20 residential reentry centers (halfway houses); five in-custody treatment programs; and 57 U.S. Correctional facilities. GEO contracts with 16 state Departments of Corrections as well as federal agencies to provide a range of correctional and immigration services.
