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| Prison system opens 're-entry' center |
| By thefloridacurrent.com - Bill Cotterell |
| Published: 12/19/2013 |
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The head of Florida's prison system ran the numbers Tuesday on how a new approach to inmate "re-entry" will save taxpayers money by breaking the cycle of crime and punishment, then said the initiative would be worthwhile even without the fiscal considerations. "It does save money," Department of Corrections Secretary Michael Crews said at an opening ceremony for the Gadsden Re-Entry Center. "But we're doing it because it's fundamentally and morally the right thing to do." The $17 million medium-security prison about 15 miles west of Tallahassee, which has 432 beds and a staff of 92, will start accepting men in the final three years of their prison sentences early next month. Located on 47 acres adjoining the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy, the facility is the first in Florida dedicated entirely to preparing inmates to rejoin society -- with services ranging from literacy and job skills to parenting and anger management. Crews and Warden Walt Summers said all prisons have some programs, including high school equivalency and drug-rehabilitation efforts, but the new one will be the first with inmate transition its sole mission. The department is seeking funding in 2014 for two more re-entry facilities, in Baker and Miami-Dade Counties. "This is the next key piece of our puzzle," Crews told about 200 DOC employees, city and county officials and others from the Leon-Gadsden communities who were involved in establishing the prison. "There is one word for it, and that's a 'difference-maker.'" Read More. |
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