St. Tammany Parish Jail Inmates Earn Diplomas/Certifications

Nine inmates at the St. Tammany Parish Jail traded their stripes for a cap and gown as they received their high school equivalency diplomas as part of a special graduation ceremony put on this week by the Department of Corrections at the St. Tammany Parish Jail. Two additional inmates were also recognized for earning their Literacy Certification.

Family members watched via Zoom while the inmates, turned students, proudly walked up to accept their Diplomas/Certifications.

Through a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Louisiana DOC, the STPSO provides DOC offenders, who are convicted in and/or are returning to the Florida Parishes Regions of the state upon their release, with services that will assist them with their re-entry into the community.

As part of the Re-Entry Program, and through a partnership with the DOC, the STPSO offers a number of classes promoting change, self-awareness/improvement, recovery living and education, courses on parenting, anger management and an opportunity to earn a High School Equivalency Diploma while incarcerated. Students participate in a classroom setting using a computer-based learning program and are under the tutelage of an instructor provided by the DOC.

“𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦,” 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴.”