Acadiana Center for Youth in St. Martinville now all-girls facility

SHREVEPORT, LA. (KTAL/KMSS) — A St. Martin Parish juvenile correctional facility now has significantly more female residents thanks to a state decision to opt out of a contract with a Shreveport-area facility.

The Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ), responsible for finding supervision and secure care for delinquents, announced it will not extend its long-standing contract for secure care of female youth with the Ware Center for Youth (WCY) in Coushatta to save funds.

As a result, the OJJ has completed the temporary transfer of those female youth in secure care at Ware to the state-run Acadiana Center for Youth in St. Martinville (ACY). The male youth offenders who were housed at ACY were relocated to other OJJ secure care facilities earlier this week.

“OJJ has the ability to serve our secure care female youth without continuing this contract with Ware, and doing so will save funds,” said Office of Juvenile Justice Deputy Secretary Curtis Nelson.

The Coushatta facility offered 34 beds for male and female youth aged 10 to 16 years and an array of educational programs.

The female youth will continue their studies with blended learning per school day and individualized counseling services; the male youth will be relocated to other OJJ secure care facilities earlier this week as they were previously housed at the ACY.

ACY has an array of programs, from required 360 Minutes of Blended Learning/Academic Classes, individualized academic counseling, and pathways for individualized interests (TOPS High School Diploma, TOPS Tech (Jumpstart), or HiSET (equivalent to GED).