Ouachita Correctional Center Offers Continuing Education Program

“Often, persons convicted in court and sentenced to the correctional system for a crime fall back into the same criminal pattern once they are released,” according to Sheriff Jay Russell.  “They lack the education and/or skills to perform a job making recidivism a serious problem in the criminal justice system.”

To help combat this problem, Sheriff Russell and the staff at the Ouachita Correctional Center have worked to offer programs to those serving time to educate and train them in job skills, with the objective in mind that they are able to obtain employment and become productive members of society upon their release.

One of these programs is the Hi-Set (formerly known as the GED) program, where inmates that meet qualifying criteria attend classes at the Ouachita Correctional Center to attain a high school certification.

Recently, twelve inmates at OCC participated in this program.  Of the twelve, nine passed the Hi-Set final exam.  Three missed passing by only one subject and will be able to complete that in the next few weeks.

Enrolling in Pell Grant educational assistance program available to the general public, five of those passing this course have already enrolled online with the Ashland University, pursuing a college degree.

The Hi-Set program is administered by Department of Correction instructors who are aided by inmate tutors on site.

We are very proud of the efforts of the instructors and especially those that took the course for their dedication and hard work to achieve these results.