By Pat Culverhouse

A unique program for female inmates housed at the Webster Parish jail is teaching skills usually displayed on construction sites predominately by men.

Ten female inmates have recently completed a course in operating heavy equipment, anything from small equipment to bulldozers and backhoes. The results of that program have already born fruit, according to Scott Tucker, Warden of Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center and the women’s jail.

“Two of our women have already been hired by construction companies and they’re making somewhere in the mid- to upper 20 dollars per hour salary,” he said.

Tucker said the program also created a relationship between students that could prove as valuable as the new job opportunities.

“One of the 10 students I had arrested back in 1994 was in the program, and she learned how to read in class. All the girls chipped in and helped,” Tucker said.

Another student inmate graduated on her release date and hers is one more success story, thanks to the program, Tucker said.

“She was an older person, but she got a job immediately running equipment making a good salary,” he said. “Her employer helped with housing, she got her grandchildren out of state custody and is now raising them.”

Tucker said the heavy equipment operators class gave the female inmates an opportunity to do much better for themselves.

“We wanted to give them a chance that would make a difference in their lives,” he said. “We have great work release programs, but most of those for females were minimum wage type jobs. This, we believe, gives them hope and builds confidence and self esteem.

While two of the grads are working full-time with private companies, the others are also using skills they’ve developed, Tucker said.

“Some them are in work-release programs through the DOC (state Dept. of Corrections) and others are on our work crews here,” he said. “When they’re released, we believe their chances of landing jobs will be very good.”

Tucker said the female inmates who participated in this first program were thoroughly vetted, both by the DOC and the parish. The class, when completed, could be used to calculate “good time” which counts toward early release.

“DOC does most of the screening to see if they’re eligible, but we screen a little extra because we want to be sure we’re getting those who qualify and are really interested,” he said. “We want those who are trying to better themselves, because we want to help them do that.”

Tucker said a partnership with the Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College has been extremely beneficial with this program, and he looks forward to continued cooperation in others.

“They had some grants which helped us take advantage of the opportunity to do this, and their instructors taught the class here on the grounds of Camp Minden,” he said. “Through them we will be able to take advantage of other opportunities for all our inmates.”

“We’re hoping to start a HISET (High School Equivalency Test) with them to help inmates get a high school diploma,” he said. “The state isn’t giving us any new teachers. We currently don’t have one and the school will partner to help us.”

Tucker said the school also helped with the placement of the two women who are currently working.

“It’s a networking and stakeholder thing. They have a great job placement program and they’ve always been there when we needed them,” he said.

A new women’s prison facility is currently under construction on the old penal farm grounds, and Tucker wants to see additional programs offered.

“We’ll have much better conditions there and will have classrooms for programs. I want to see more programs for both our male and female inmates because the more I offer, the better quality of inmate I can get…those who want to better themselves while serving their time,” he said.

Tucker said he is very pleased with the success of the first female operators’ program. He said the students were excited about participating and there were no problems. And, the two graduates who are now working full-time are positive examples of what can be accomplished.

“Two success stories in our women’s program out of 10, I’ll take that any day,” he said. “It means we’re not just releasing people and expecting them to come right back. We’re sending a more stable individual back into the public.”