Corrections_Today_Spring_2026_Vol.88_No.1

PAST PRESIDENT’S CORNER

body of policy forming the foundation of institutional and community field operations. And how would it be possible to accomplish this? ACA accreditation became the overarching theme of our department. I scheduled a meeting of all Wardens, Probation and Parole leadership, Headquarters leader ship and anyone we could fit in the room. We announced that every adult and juvenile unit of our department, every contractor providing adult or juvenile commu nity residential or non-residential care to people in our custody, our Prison Enterprises division and our headquarters operation, would be required to seek and receive ac creditation through ACA. The association was well represented at that meeting by ac creditation leadership armed with a briefcase full of contracts. Anyone who believed this was a lofty goal that would take years to accomplish quickly learned that we were on a 12 to 24 month time frame. Everyone in the department — from security, medical, classification, education, maintenance, faith programs, administrative, headquarters — learned they were responsible for results and excuses were simply not adequate. Adult and juvenile institutional staff along with community and headquarters staff met together often in the field, learning and sharing on a scale unheard of in our agency. And we accomplished our goal. In a period of time very few

thought possible, we had accredited an entire system: – Adult prisons – Secure juvenile facilities – Adult and juvenile probation and parole operations – Community services – Every contracted adult work release center – Contracted juvenile community residential and nonresidential programs – Prison Enterprises To complete the circle, after more than a quarter-century of federal court supervision of our state sys tem, we were released from Federal Court oversight. The consent decree ended. Many things went into that effort, and it was hard fought in a variety of arenas, but there is no question ACA accreditation was an integral part of our success. And we accomplished our goal. In a period of time very few thought possible, we had accredited

reasons. The direct and positive implications of all these efforts can’t be described in these few words. I know a team of people worked together — never giving in to the many obstacles they encountered — to develop a stable, productive, organized and disciplined system that was and is a credit to our state and a proud product of ac creditation through the American Correctional Association and the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections. We were presented our ACA Golden Eagle award for systemwide accreditation at the next Sum mer Congress. Mr. James Gondles, Executive Director, who was re sponsible for enabling much of the support provided by the association over the years to us, presented me with the award. Unfortunately, he dropped it as he handed it to me and our Golden Eagle was presented in multiple pieces ... I retired in 2008 after serving in the cabinets of Governor Edwards, Governor Foster and Governor Blanco. Each of them gave full endorsement to the continuation of accreditation through ACA. James LeBlanc, a career employee who was an instrumental partner in our progress, was then appointed Secretary and served for 16½ years. Governors Jindal, Edwards and Landry supported his continuation of the accreditation initiative. Secretary Gary Westcott, with over a 30-year career in Probation and Parole operations and leader ship, has now taken the reins. I believe the firm foundation of ACA accreditation will remain a guiding light for our agency. CT

an entire system ... I believe the firm foundation of ACA accreditation will remain a guiding light for our agency.

We had accomplished an objec tive assessment of our worth. We were now a nationally recognized correctional system for the right

Spring 2026 | Corrections Today

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