TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Supporters of a prison re-entry facility in Broward County continued pleading Monday to avert a closure amid a dispute with the Florida Department of Corrections.
The Bridges of America facility is set to shut down in less than two weeks, as the Department of Corrections has said the space occupied by the program is needed for probation offices. A similar program in Manatee County is in line to close later this summer.
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The Bridges program assists prisoners on work release with drug treatment, as well as transitioning back into society. The contract for the Bridges of America transitional program for prisoners expires May 16.
Supporters held a news conference Monday in Tallahassee to argue that such programs are essential as they give outgoing inmates marketable skills, so the inmates are less likely to return to prison once their terms are up.
"There comes a time that you will be released," Senate Criminal Justice Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker, said. "So, now you've got folks that have been in prison for five, 10, 15, 20 years and have no earthly idea what the outside is like."
In an email response, Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones said all inmates in the Broward County program will continue to get treatment and take part in re-entry programs at other facilities.
There are 172 inmates currently at the Broward facility who will be impacted by the shutdown.
Polk County’s Dianna Love spent two years in a Bradenton re-entry facility, which could also be on the chopping block this summer. She said the program helped her re-enter society after spending a decade behind bars.
"If you’re in that program because you want to make a change and a difference in your life, you don’t want to go back out and do the same things or be the same that you were before," Love said.
The Bradenton Bridge program’s contract expires in July. Supporters of the women’s facility will hold a rally Tuesday to plead with the DOC to reconsider.
Evers said he anticipates the governor will be getting involved in the situation in the near future.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.