Hey, this is reporter Laura Starchesky.

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From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX,

this is Reveal. I'm Al Edson.

We're picking up in Baden Rouge, Louisiana

with chapter six of American rehab, the White Vans.

We left off last time with a story of how mass incarceration

helped build a prison to rehab pipeline through the 1980s and 90s.

A steady supply of participants getting court ordered to attend

CENACORE and work, but not get paid.

Our reporter, Shoshana Walter, asked for a tour of the CENACORE program

but CENACORE said no. They didn't want to show us what kind of work

participants are doing. They didn't even want us to meet

any current participants in the program.

But we knew that CENACORE workers were scattered all over Baden Rouge

at warehouses and kitchens and construction sites

alongside regular workers.

And the CENACORE workers were not getting paid.

So in March of 2019, Laura Starchesky and I decided to head out

...