By Kristen Mitchell
Tampa Tribune
ST. PETERSBURG — Some Pinellas County offenders soon will be getting more guidance and hands-on training from case managers while on probation.
The Florida Department of Corrections received a $750,000 grant to fund an intensive case-management pilot program aimed at keeping nonviolent offenders in Pinellas from violating probation and going back to jail.
The SMART Re-entry Probation grant will be used to hire and train two senior probation officers during the next two years who will work in areas of the county with high concentrations of serious offenders.
The program is a collaboration with the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, the chief judge and the Pinellas sheriff’s office.
Public Defender Bob Dillinger said the program will “keep people not a threat to public safety and the community out of prison.” The senior probation officers will do case-management with those who need “intense supervision” and have trouble staying sober and holding jobs, which can be conditions for staying out of jail.
A maximum of 120 people at a time can use the program services during the 36-month pilot. Services provided by the Department of Corrections include training classes in life skills, resume writing, housing and job placement, drug testing and acquiring social services or medical care.
The program is expected to be in two of the county’s eight felony probation offices.
Michael Jalazo, executive director of the Pinellas County Ex-Offender Re-Entry Coalition, said the goal is to give people a “seamless transition” from incarceration to regular life. The services available through SMART can have a huge impact.
“Those who, when they are released from jail or prison, actually engage in services, their recidivism rate is under 20 percent ... it’s a dramatic difference,” Jalazo said.
The state recidivism rate is 27.6 percent, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Jalazo said the SMART program is based on a re-entry program in Hawaii, HOPE Probation, launched in 2004. The intensive supervision program led to reductions in drug use and recidivism rates.
Sex offenders and career criminals are not eligible for the program.