EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A working committee of the grassroots organization Urban Congress on African American Males in Baton Rouge volunteered to provide an independent review of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections (DoC) pilot 100-hr Pre-Release Program (a reentry preparation curriculum) by conducting a two-phase interview process with representatives of both inmate and staff populations at select correctional institutions. This work was part of the nonprofit group’s larger focus on social systems impacting the lives of black men in Baton Rouge. Its findings and recommendations were submitted to the DoC in September, 2019. The Department’s response is included with this report.
With the goal of general assessment and greater understanding of this important program by our members, we interviewed 6 administrators of the 100-hr Pre-Release Program at West Baton Parish jail and Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility in Phase One of our process. In Phase Two, we interviewed 11 formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs) who had some knowledge, insight and/or direct experience of the pilot program. After concluding our interviews and sharing their contents within our group, we have drafted the following suggestions for consideration as possible ways to enhance or improve Louisiana’s foremost reentry initiative.