LESP – Life Employment and Skills Program
The Life Employment and Skills Program (LESP) is a program for Oakland County Jail inmates to address their criminal conduct and any substance abuse issues. Inmates that are accepted into the program meet for 90 minutes over a period of 6 weeks for felony offenses, or for 90 minute sessions over 4 weeks for misdemeanor offenses. For misdemeanor offenses, the Defendant must be sentenced to a minimum of 60 days in jail in order to participate and cannot have an assaultive record. Upon completion of the program the inmate receives a 25% reduction in his or her jail sentence. The focus of LESP is to teach the inmate new ways of thinking, to achieve self control, understand distortions in thinking, and identify patterns of criminal behavior. There is no charge for an inmate’s participation in LESP.