With Thanks to Our District Attorney, Judge James Stewart

Earlier this year Judge James Stewart came to me with an idea, an idea that can affect the future of our community. It was an idea that made sense to us as a community healthcare organization. As President of the Willis-Knighton Health System and representative of its 7,200 employees and physicians, I am delighted that Willis-Knighton can step forth to fully fund two years of a creative truancy plan proposed by our district attorney, Judge James Stewart, through a gift of $440,000 to Volunteers for Youth Justice.

Volunteers for Youth Justice has a truancy program with a proven track record of success with older children. The truancy program, working with the Caddo Parish School Board, has battled truancy in Caddo Parish for the past five years. However, studies have shown a dramatic increase in the number of young children (K-5th grade) who were identified as truant, prompting a new plan to be developed to address these issues in their early stages.

Judge Stewart’s plan, modeled after a successful program in Baton Rouge, is designed to get school children off the streets and back in the classroom. I believe that our district attorney’s program, which will hold parents accountable for their childrens’ attendance at school, will be hugely successful. Educational truancy is robbing generations of children, not only of the education they deserve, but of their chances for jobs and financial success. Judge Stewart’s plan to hold parents accountable for assuring that their children are in school is masterful in its approach, and I commend him for bringing this to our community.

Willis-Knighton’s mission is “to continuously improve the health and well-being of the people we serve,” and this program strongly supports the well-being of current and future generations. I strongly believe that the future of this parish and its citizens will soon be brighter when this program successfully puts our most precious gifts, our children, back in the classrooms where they can attain an education that permits them to reach their dreams of successful lives and achievements.

Thank you, Judge Stewart, for making children and education priorities in our community.