Florida should retain successful Bradenton re-entry center for women inmates

The testimonials about the life-nurturing value of Manatee County's inmate transitional and work-release center for women should compel the Florida Department of Corrections to keep funding this facility.

But Bradenton Bridge is confronting another closure threat -- the second in the past few years -- when the current contract with the state expires in July. As troubling as that possibility is, the state is dodging questions about the reasons behind that prospect.

Bridges of America, the center's private, not-for-profit operator, submitted the only proposal in response to a DOC request for bids -- an apparent drawback with the state, which intends to reissue the request.

Why? A lone bid submittal is not uncommon, Bridges of America president and CEO Lori Constantino-Brown told the Herald 10 days ago.

What's the hitch this time?

Bradenton Bridge holds a phenomenal record of success -- with a 5 percent recidivism rate, the lowest in the country. Why leave a proven partner dangling in the wind? Is the state seeking a bargain-basement bid? That would not be unusual given the Scott administration's laser focus on lowering costs with little consideration for quality programs and community value. Four years ago, the state threatened to close the center over budget cuts.

In an exhaustive investigative series about Florida prisons, the Miami Herald discovered dangerous understaffing at a crisis level after budget cuts slashed positions, officer pay remained stagnant and the employee turnover rate soared. Corrections officers routinely worked 12-hour shifts and supervised a precariously high number of inmates.

During the first week of 2016, Florida prisons logged 376 serious incidents inside penitentiary walls -- deaths, assaults, rapes and security breaches among them.

This year, the DOC requested legislative authorization for 738 new officers, but lawmakers funded only 215.

As the Herald reported in this year's investigative series, educational, life-skills and vocational programs have been "decimated by years of cutbacks" by lawmakers. The new DOC secretary, Julie Jones, did not seek additional funding for programs to help released prisoners re-enter society.

That big picture of the state's depreciation of its prison system shows a shortsighted view of the public safety inherently connected to the successful integration of inmates back into communities.

Bradenton Bridge is a shining example of the value of transitional programs. The center houses 118 women participating in one of two programs, with some two dozen in work release and the remainder in transition from prison. All live in a structured and demanding environment dedicated to resurrecting lives.

The transition re-entry center, for women with remaining sentences from two to three years, provides intensive substance abuse treatment, adult basic education, culinary fundamentals, anger management, budgeting, computer training and employability skills, all among other value-added services. These are the Bradenton Bridge women vulnerable to a return to prison should the state force the center's closure.

Upon completion of the transition program, convicts are eligible for the community release program. The women are required to be gainfully employed and also pay for their room and board (thereby saving taxpayer money), set aside savings, send money home and make court-ordered payments. They also continue their treatment plan.

The goal of both programs: teaching problem solving, critical thinking, conflict resolution and recovery maintenance skills.

They will receive little if any of this if returned to prison.

Successful re-entry into the community through such programs is essential to public safety and inmate progress.

Many current and former Bradenton Bridge women credit the center for steering their lives down a positive road. Catherine Rodeheaver is one of them. She's now a sous chef in a well-known restaurant in Cortez.

"I lost everything going to prison, so this gave me the tools I needed to not only handle my situations that I didn't know how to handle with my addiction, but it also gave me the tools to start a whole new life. Without this program, that wouldn't be possible," she remarked at a May 3 press conference to showcase the value of Bradenton Bridge.

DOC should not turn a deaf ear on such gripping success stories.

The state already under values re-entry, education and life-skills programs in prisons. Bradenton Bridge, among similar centers elsewhere in the state, should be bolstered. Closure would only save pennies while a new grant would save lives and spare taxpayers the expense of prison.

The Department of Corrections' decision should be based on outcomes, not dollars. Reinvigorate Bradenton Bridge.

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Florida should retain successful Bradenton re-entry center for women inmates ."