The St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office recognized five inmates who successfully completed the Opportunity Now Re-Entry Program during a graduation ceremony November 23, 2020. Due to COVID-19, the graduates were recognized during a virtual graduation featured in the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace.
Opportunity Now director Joe Lewis congratulated the inmates and encouraged them to work hard to rebuild their lives.
Opportunity Now is the only re-entry program with built-in job placement, case management and follow along services in the state, Lewis said. The local program is a collaborative effort between the St. John Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Louisiana Rehabilitation Services and the Louisiana Department of Corrections to provide work readiness, job placement and other self-sufficiency services to qualified inmates.
Re-Entry participants are required to successfully complete three months of intensive work readiness and life skills training. The courses are designed to help inmates make better choices and to cope with a variety of issues they may face upon re-entering society.
Sheriff Tregre, who started this program within the SJSO in 2014, said he is proud of the Opportunity Now partnership with the Louisiana Workforce
Commission, Louisiana Rehabilitation Services and the Louisiana Department of Corrections. The November graduation featured the SJSO’s 15th class.
“Working with these groups” Sheriff Tregre said, “the St. John Sheriff’s Office is able to assist in the rehabilitation of inmates and help inmates transition into society to become productive members of society.It has been a very successful program.”
Opportunity Now Graduates Recognized
