Remapping Louisiana's Cradle to Prison Pipeline through Campus and Community Collaboration

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Louisiana continues to lead the world in incarceration rates, with those imprisoned disproportionately coming from marginalized communities marked by poverty and low literacy. Recognizing the deep interconnection between early childhood education and long-term criminal justice outcomes, this project examines a cross-sector partnership aimed at disrupting the state’s entrenched Cradle to Prison Pipeline. Drawing on insights from criminal justice reform efforts and two decades of experience in early childhood education, the authors designed a comprehensive service-learning initiative within all undergraduate and graduate Early Childhood Education courses at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Through tutoring, the provision of books and school supplies, and the creation of family literacy bags that equip parents to support daily reading and literacy activities, the initiative seeks to strengthen children’s developmental outcomes while empowering families as their children’s first teachers. A recent collaboration with the Call Me Mister program further expanded this work by engaging diverse male teacher candidates in literacy outreach and mentorship with preschool and kindergarten students. Together, these efforts aim to remap Louisiana’s trajectory from a Cradle to Prison Pipeline toward a Cradle to College Pipeline by addressing early literacy gaps, fostering family engagement, and cultivating positive school-college connections during the foundational early childhood years.

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