Juvenile Justice in Louisiana: Institutions

Louisiana juvenile facilities have been run by a mixture of state, parish, multi-parish, and private entities.

1904:  By Act No. 173 the legislature created a State Reform School (for white boys 18 and under). In 1908 called the Louisiana Training Institute. Today it is known as Swanson Center for Youth (SCY).

1920:  By Act No. 249 the legislature created the Louisiana Industrial Home for Girls and Women (for females over ten).

1926: By Act No. 175 the legislature created the State Industrial School for Girls (white girls ages twelve to nineteen). Repeals Act No. 249 of 1920.

1926: By Act No. 285 the legislature amends 1904 Act No. 173.

1928:  By Act No. 150 the legislature created the State Industrial School for Colored Youths (males aged 17 and under). By Act. No. 189, they would go to a prison farm until it was built.

1928: State Industrial School for Girls opened in Ball, Louisiana . However, in 1989, the school closed and the girls were transported to SCY. After two years, the female program was re-established at the Jetson Center for Youth in 1991. The girls unit closed again in 2005 after they were transferred to other state facilities (State of Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice, 2011). Girls are now sent to the Ware Center for Youth in Coushatta, Louisiana.

1948, twenty years after the act which created it, the State Industrial School for Colored was opened to accommodate African American male and female juvenile delinquents in Scotlandville, Louisiana. The name changed three times, including Jetson Correctional Center for Youth (1995) and Louis Jetson Center for Youth (2000).

1972: a youth correctional facility opened near New Orleans, Louisiana, known as Louisiana Training Institute-Bridge City

1986:  By Act No. 495, the legislature created the Florida Parishes Juvenile Justice District for the parishes of Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington.

1986: By Act No. 733, the legislature created the The Tangipahoa Parish Juvenile Justice District.

1986: By Act No. 833, the legislature created The Northwest Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center Authority for the parishes of Bienville, Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster.    

1986: By Act No. 9293, the legislature created the Tri-Parish Juvenile Justice District for the parishes of Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Baton Rouge.

1989: By Act No. 19, the legislature accepted the St. James Parish Youth Center

1992: By Act No. 713 the legislature accepted the Bernard Parish Juvenile Detention Center

1993: the Northwest Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center opens. Now called Ware Youth Center.

1994:  the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth (TCCY) was opened in Tallulah, Louisiana,

1994: the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center opens and accepts juveniles.

2003:  Legislature passes Act No. 1225, known as the "Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2003,"  which calls for closing the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth by end of 2004.

2004: Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth closed.

2008: By Act No. 565, the legislature allows closure of Jetson Center for Youth.

2014: Jetson Center for Youth closes.

2019: Acadiana Center for Youth opens in Bunkie.

2022: the West Feliciana Center for Youth opens at Angola.