CADDO PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections is discontinuing a program that would have let formerly incarcerated males teach at at-risk schools.
Secretary James Le Blanc of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections said Friday that the department will discontinue the “Mister Coffee Bean” program throughout the state due to concerns brought up by the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association (LSA) and numerous legislators.
According to the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana Department of Corrections asked officials with CPSO in February to identify Caddo Correctional Center inmates for the program. After receiving the request Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator notified the Caddo Parish School Board, LSA, legislators, and the public that his participation would have been against his sworn duty to serve and protect.
I had to do all I could to put a stop to something that would have placed young children at risk. I’m all for reducing recidivism, in fact, we have helped more than six thousand inmates graduate from out re-entry program. But our children are too precious to be part of an experimental initiative. Protecting our children must remain a priority. I am relieved state officials listened and pulled the plug on this program.
Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator
The Mister Coffee Bean program would have placed incarcerated, black men, with non-violent, non-aggravated, low-level offenses into at-risk elementary schools to serve as teachers and role models.
