Pensacola News JournalPensacola Pathways for Change Peggy White • Reader Submitted • October 21, 2009 Pensacola-based Pathways for Change (PFC) provides solutions to America's crime problems by offering an alternative sentencing option for offenders that can be used by judges, prosecutors, public defenders and attorneys.
America has a higher percentage of its citizens in prison than any other advanced nation, and Florida is one of 5 states with the greatest number of incarcerated men and women. Studies report that more than two-thirds of released offenders turn back to crime and are re-arrested. PFC is a faith-based therapeutic community that cuts costs for taxpayers of traditional incarceration methods while also dramatically raising the success rates of offenders not returning to jail or prison after their release.
"Currently, one in every 110 Americans will be incarcerated sometime within their life," said Connie Bookman, executive director of PFC. "Sixty-eight percent of those who are incarcerated eventually will be re-arrested and return to trial and jail or prison. With the alternative of PFC, a 12-month or 18-month program available to convicted misdemeanants and felons with substance abuse problems, we have proven that recidivism can be cut to only eight percent."
PFC is successful because it breaks the typical revolving-door pattern of arrest, sentencing, release and re-arrest through identifying what inmates will respond to, and creating a program of intensive instruction, behavior modification and counseling. Research shows that 92 percent of inmates who successfully complete a PFC program are not re-arrested after release. The program is also less expensive than incarceration in a county jail or state prison. The cost of rehabilitating each inmate through PFC is $15,000 annually, less than the $25,500 it costs to house county jail inmates, and significantly less than the $44,000 annual cost of incarcerating similar inmates in a state prison.
"PFC is a comprehensive jail-based program that works with inmates much earlier in the cycle of crime. This gives us a greater opportunity to help offenders change their lives to be productive citizens, which in turn, saves taxpayers money by keeping offenders out of jail or prison and creates a safer community," said Dr. Carla Thompson, Scott, assistant professor of the CORAL Center, University of West Florida and PFC volunteer.
Though PFC does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, national origin, religious or sexual orientation, not all inmates are eligible. Those entering the program must have been judged by the judicial system to be non-violent male offenders diagnosed as substance dependent and who are willing to attempt to restructure their lives through a faith-based therapeutic community. A similar program for women, which was judged equally successful as that offered to qualified male inmates, was terminated when overcrowding at the Escambia County Jail forced the program to move to the Escambia County Work Release Center in 2006.
Bookman attributes the success of PFC to a highly structured three-phase process involving individual and group therapy by clinical professionals, as well as instruction and guidance to assist offenders in gaining the skills necessary to function in society. They are required to work toward their GED, acquire new employment skills and create a case plan that requires payment of all fines, fees and other obligations such as child support. Additionally, family members are required to be involved in the process and receive counseling as well.
"This is not a 'Get-Out-of-Jail-Free' card," said Bookman. "It's an opportunity for qualifying offenders to break free of what is often a cycle of destructive addictions and behaviors. The program gives these offenders the tools to control their behaviors and provides them with some of the learning skills they need to function in our society. Over one hundred volunteers teach classes, tutor, mentor and sponsor the clients and provide transportation and assistance in the dormitory".
"Pathways for Change makes a difference not only in the inmate who goes through the program, it has a far-reaching affect on families. Currently, 80 percent of children expelled from school have at least one parent who is incarcerated. That is the kind of destructive cycle this program can help break." Saturday events embrace client's children, teach clients how to have ‘clean and sober fun' and reconnect with their children. Mentors support the significant others and children of PFC clients."
PFC accepts up to 25 offenders who live in a military-style, barracks atmosphere with bunk beds, classroom areas and workout facilities. Funding comes from contributions from the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, The Clinton Cox Memorial Fund, grants and donations. The program, facilitated by Baptist Health Care, has only three full-time employees, two part-time employees, 5 contracted employees and about 100 volunteers. Restricted by the amount of available funding, PFC remains the only court-ordered program within a 500-mile radius and is one of only five percent nationwide that are faith-based.
Additional Facts:
Nearly 700,000 offenders are released from prison nationwide every year.
Of those released, two-thirds who are sentenced by traditional means are re-arrested for serious and/or violent offenses within three years.
Only 8 percent of inmates who graduate from PFC re-offend and are re-arrested, much less than the 68 percent recidivism rate of those released from county jails and state prisons.
The cost of incarceration in state prison is $44,000 per inmate, annually and $25,500 annually in the county jail. The cost of rehabilitation through PFC is $15,000 per inmate, annually.
Thirty offenders have graduated the PFC program in Escambia County, saving taxpayers $765,000 to $1,320,000 per year. Seventeen additional candidates are expected to graduate within a year, saving taxpayers an additional $433,000 per year.
Without programs such as PFC, recidivism is likely, as many offenders face challenges such as physical and mental health issues, addiction, lack of education and job skills, and return to the same environment.
Currently, one out of 110 people are incarcerated some time during their life, and 80 percent of children who are expelled from school have a parent who is incarcerated.
PFC remains the only court-ordered program within a 500-mile radius and is one of only five percent nationwide that are faith-based.
America has a higher percentage of its citizens in prison than any other advanced nation.
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