THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — Kimberly Crochet has some big plans when she gets released from the Lafourche Parish jail.
“When I get out of here I want to open my own salon,” the 37-year-old Bayou Blue resident said. “I’m taking college courses in business management and am a licensed cosmetologist. This program gave me the skills to be successful when I get out.”
Crochet was one of five graduates who completed the first female pre-release class at the jail. The 100-hour program lasts 12 weeks and prepares inmates who are nearing the end of their sentences.
“The participants go through problem-solving, decision-making, learn employment skills and do exercises where they create resumes and go through job interviews,” said Capt. Karla Beck, director of programming and re-entry and assistant warden. “They learn values and goal-setting, victim awareness and restitution, money management and anger management. They receive counseling and get job-placement assistance. It gets them ready for life on the outside and teaches them the skills to have clean, sober and productive lives.”
Inmate Mary Taylor used the program to gain skills to become a forklift operator.
“I’m trying to get my GED, and building a resume is really going to help me look for a job because now I have a certificate on top of going to school,” the 36-year-old Golden Meadow resident said. “So this program did a lot for me.”
The program’s instructor, Debra Guidry, said participants had to earn their way toward graduation by working hard and venturing out of their comfort zones.
“There are 10 modules they have to go through,” she said. “It gets them ready to get back to the free world with every opportunity and positive direction we can give them.”
The graduates were recently honored during a ceremony that included participation from their families.
“We think it’s important to have a ceremony at the end because it’s hard work,” Beck said. “They take this on willingly. They don’t have to participate. During the ceremony we get their families to send in messages of encouragement and pictures and they get to watch the ceremony through Zoom. It’s really a touching thing.”
Autum Adams, 38, said she learned a lot about money management during her weeks in the program.
“I also learned to create budgets because I’m a big spender,” the Lockport resident said. “I’m a licensed cosmetologist who’s been out of school for over 20 years. I still never had to create a resume, so that was really big for me.”
Crochet said she is leaving the jail as a different person.
“When you stay in here so long you lose yourself a bit,” she said. “This program gave us our self-confidence back because it helped us believe in ourselves again.”