Penal Experts Gather For Summit

[Merlin]

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBX9104ZOE.html

TAMPA - When James McDonough took over as the state's new prisons chief in February, the corrections system was being rocked by scandal, and he didn't know what to expect.

McDonough feared possible disorder and contacted the Florida National Guard to see whether it could step in if needed, McDonough said Tuesday.

Fortunately, that wasn't necessary, McDonough told a gathering of community agency officials, faith-based organizations and law enforcement officials.

The occasion for McDonough's remarks was a "re-entry summit" sponsored by the U.S. attorney's office aimed at getting people together to share ideas on helping prisoners reintegrate into society.

Officials said they hope the summit will help officials decide the best way to spend $500,000 of a $2.5 million antigang grant given by the U.S. Department of Justice to Hillsborough County. That portion of the grant is to help offenders re-enter society.

McDonough said more than 50 percent of convicts are arrested for another crime within two years of being released from Florida prisons. Nationwide, that figure is 67 percent within three years of release, said Steven T. McFarland, director of faith-based and community initiatives for the Department of Justice.

McDonough wants to reduce the number in Florida by 10 percent a year. Among the initiatives being organized, he said, is an effort to teach inmates construction skills by putting them together with Habitat for Humanity and state construction industry groups.

Vicki Lukis, vice chairwoman of the governor's Ex-Offender Re-Entry Task Force, told the gathering that the state has identified five locations, including Hillsborough County, for the creation of local prison re-entry boards. The boards are conceptual but should be up and running within months, Lukis said.

The idea is for localities to assume "ownership of prisoners returning to their communities," she said.

Lukis said she is uniquely qualified to discuss the subject because she is an ex-offender. Lukis, a former Lee County commissioner, served time in federal prison for mail fraud after being indicted in 1990. Her 27-month sentence was commuted by President Clinton after she served 15 1/2 months, she said.

The Rev. Abe Brown, of Abe Brown Ministries, has been designated the prison re-entry coordinator for the Middle District of Florida under a $70,000 federal grant given last year. In addition, he will receive part of the $500,000 from the antigang grant, most of which is supposed to go to vouchers for former inmates to help them re-enter society, officials said.

Brown was gratified that his work with prisoners is receiving attention. There was a caveat: "The ideas that are being discussed today we had that 30 years ago," he said. But programs for former inmates fell to the government budget ax, he said. Naturally, Brown said, crime rates went up.

"If you lock a dog up and don't do anything for that dog, he's not going to be better in 15 years," Brown said. "He's going to be loose."

[VOPman]

I don't know about you guys, but I think that I would punch anyone who called me a "penal expert."

:lol: They are already able to get construction jobs pretty easy after release - the main problem is if they will work and stop hanging around the wrong crowd when released. This is just more political and media talk for the most part.

This is just more political and media talk for the most part.

Yes indeed. And we were certainly overdue for some positive press I might add. Hey, when the boss says he was ready with national guard support on day one of his appointment and had the courage to face the world and tell them he was ready to make changes, you better believe he got everyone's attention and respect. Corrections is more than zero tolerance, cuffing and stuffing then serving 85%. The public is starving for more cost effective measures or alternatives to help reduce recidivism. Of course, if you haven't tried thinking outside of the box since before the Crosby era you may be in for a rude awakening.

[mystikwarrior]

Lukis, a former Lee County commissioner, served time in federal prison for mail fraud after being indicted in 1990.

:roll: :roll:
Oh yeah, she's a qualified offender that obviously experienced the difficulties of re-entry to society. NOT!
Now if she said she did 8-15 for bank robbery, kidnapping and unlawful flight she might be able to say she knows the drill.

This is just more political and media talk for the most part.

Yes indeed. And we were certainly overdue for some positive press I might add. Hey, when the boss says he was ready with national guard support on day one of his appointment and had the courage to face the world and tell them he was ready to make changes, you better believe he got everyone's attention and respect. Corrections is more than zero tolerance, cuffing and stuffing then serving 85%. The public is starving for more cost effective measures or alternatives to help reduce recidivism. Of course, if you haven't tried thinking outside of the box since before the Crosby era you may be in for a rude awakening.

When this guy leaves in Jqnuary he will have made no difference at all in reality. The secretary knows nothing about Corrections he has shown that from the first days he took the position. I will be glad when he goes back to the President in January so we can get someone who knows Corrections and doesnt have the baggage of Crosby and get this Media mouthpiece out....

Lukis, a former Lee County commissioner, served time in federal prison for mail fraud after being indicted in 1990.

:roll: :roll:
Oh yeah, she's a qualified offender that obviously experienced the difficulties of re-entry to society. NOT!
Now if she said she did 8-15 for bank robbery, kidnapping and unlawful flight she might be able to say she knows the drill.

She'll be the next CA somewhere

[mystikwarrior]

so we can get someone who knows Corrections and doesnt have the baggage of Crosby

Got any possible candidates? Obviously needs to be someone already in the hierarchy, right?

so we can get someone who knows Corrections and doesnt have the baggage of Crosby

Got any possible candidates? Obviously needs to be someone already in the hierarchy, right?

Either a high ranking FL DOC official or one from another state that has worked in the Corrections field. Not someone like the Colonel who knows nothing about corrections and tries to lead by following the lead of the press, who distorts many things and tells half truths.

[mystikwarrior]

and tries to lead by following the lead of the press

Didn't Crosby do that? He played lapdog to the press after Deltona and Carlie Brucia instead of placing the blame squarely on the courts where it belonged. He was an insider, and he sold you out.
Do you want that again? A high-ranking DOC official will do the same thing again. But only after they've managed to promote all their buddies past more-deserving candidates.
Prison administration is the easy part. Most of what happens in them stays behind the bars. It's Community Corrections that makes or breaks the public image. So what you need is a high-ranking DOC official more familiar with that side of the department. Right?
How high? A senior supervisor? Or someone on the Regional level?
The trouble is that a lot of people here have nothing kind to say about those people. Hopefully the prevailing opinion of the chain of command here isn't the prevailing statewide opinion.