SLS 161ES-5 ORIGINAL
2016 First Extraordinary Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 3
BY SENATOR GATTI
COMMENDATIONS. Commends and recognizes the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance
Abuse Program.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend and recognize the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance Abuse Program for its
3 success in shortening the sentences of certain offenders, while better preparing those
4 offenders to reintegrate into their families and communities without a return to
5 substance abuse and incarceration.
6 WHEREAS, the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance Abuse Program (SHISAP) and the
7 accompanying Family Recovery Program have received a prestigious award from the Ash
8 Center for Democratic Government and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of
9 Government at Harvard University, as part of its Bright Ideas program; and
10 WHEREAS, this award recognizes the efforts and successes of the Louisiana
11 programs in treating and supporting offenders and their families; and
12 WHEREAS, the tandem concerns of substance abuse among offenders and the high
13 percentage of young men in the jails and prisons of Louisiana are the focus of SHISAP and
14 its partner program to strengthen family ties for those incarcerated; and
15 WHEREAS, the programs are located in the Bossier Medium Security Facility in
16 Bossier Parish and are conducted in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety and
17 Corrections; and
18 WHEREAS, SHISAP and the Family Recovery Program provide a therapeutic
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SLS 161ES-5 ORIGINAL
1 approach to house, treat, educate and reorient offenders who suffer from substance abuse
2 issues with the purpose of shortening their incarceration and of offering an improved chance
3 of remaining outside the criminal justice system through a seamless return to family life; and
4 WHEREAS, the Family Recovery Program uses the curricula of Strengthening
5 Families and contains three primary components: family day, life lessons for families, and
6 reading to our children; and
7 WHEREAS, this emphasis on family relationships is based on studies that have
8 shown that the stronger and more frequently the relationship between offenders and their
9 children is maintained during the period of incarceration, the smoother the parent's
10 reintegration into the family and society, in general, will be; and
11 WHEREAS, the Steve Hoyle program offers a day for a day credit against time
12 served for those offenders who choose to participate reducing their incarceration stay and
13 bettering their chances of not becoming a repeat offender; and
14 WHEREAS, the statistics indicate that SHISAP in Bossier has awarded more than
15 five hundred thousand days of good time credit, which has saved the state of Louisiana
16 nearly thirteen million dollars in the period from January 2013 until December 31, 2015; and
17 WHEREAS, certain other offenders who are eligible to receive one year of credit for
18 ninety days of treatment have earned nearly fifty thousand days of credit and have saved the
19 state more than one million dollars in the January 2013 through December 31, 2015 time
20 period; and
21 WHEREAS, those who have successfully participated in the SHISAP Family
22 Recovery Program, which awards seventy-five days of credit upon completion, have been
23 awarded more than fifty-five thousand days of credit, saving the state more than fifteen
24 million dollars during the same January 2013 through December 31, 2015 period; and
25 WHEREAS, since the program moved to Bossier in July 2012, fifteen hundred
26 offenders have graduated from the nine month program and an additional six hundred have
27 graduated from the six month program; and
28 WHEREAS, numerous people are responsible for establishing and supporting this
29 program, including Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, James
30 LeBlanc; Warden of the David Wade Correctional Center, Jerry Goodwin; Medical/Mental
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SLS 161ES-5 ORIGINAL
1 Health Director for the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Raman Singh, M.D.;
2 Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington; Warden of Care and Treatment for the Bossier
3 facility, Dr. Susan Tucker; and Mental Health Director for the Bossier facility, Jason Burns.
4 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
5 commend and recognize the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance Abuse Program for its success
6 in shortening the sentences of certain offenders, while better preparing those offenders to
7 reintegrate into their families and communities without a return to substance abuse and
8 incarceration.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to Dr.
10 Susan Tucker, Warden of Care and Treatment at the Bossier Medium Security Facility.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SCR 3 Original 2016 First Extraordinary Session Gatti
Commends and recognizes the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance Abuse Program for its
success in shortening the sentences of certain offenders, while better preparing those
offenders to reintegrate into their families and communities without a return to substance
abuse and incarceration.
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