By Dan Sweeney
Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — On its last legs with less than 50 inmates, the 172-bed Broward Bridge prisoner re-entry program in Fort Lauderdale will close, bringing an end to a battle over its programs.
Bridges of America came to an agreement with the Department of Corrections on Wednesday to end the successful program and move the inmates to a similar facility in Pompano Beach.
“It’s unfortunate that it took lawmakers, media pressure, and public outrage to defend these programs, but we are glad that the FDOC is finally starting to listen,” Lori Costantino-Brown, president and CEO of Bridges of America, said in a statement released Wednesday. “This agreement will still negatively impact our work, reduce the number of overall re-entry opportunity, and very much contradicts legislative directives.”
The remaining prisoners are supposed to be moved by Thursday; the agreement will take effect next Tuesday.
Bridges of America said transferring prisoners to one of their others programs was a partial victory. Bridges of America will keep its clientele but will have less to offer them for the time being.
Inmates who have already been transferred to the Pompano facility say it is solely work release, without the substance-abuse courses of the Fort Lauderdale program that had seen a 10 percent recidivism rate and an almost 90 percent graduation rate.
But as part of the agreement, the Department of Corrections will upgrade the Pompano facility to fit more prisoners, including 112 beds for a new substance abuse program.
Bridges of America agreed to drop protests it had lodged with an administrative judge. A class-action suit filed by prisoners in the Fort Lauderdale facility to stop the closure will also be dropped.
The Fort Lauderdale site will be used by the Department of Corrections “for whatever public purpose it deems appropriate,” according to the agreement. It will become probation and parole offices, said Department of Corrections spokesman McKinley Lewis.
The department came into conflict with the Broward Sheriff’s Office last year because deputies assigned to Lauderdale Lakes, the location of Broward’s sole holding site for probation violators on their way to jail, were spending so much time transferring prisoners instead of patrolling the town.
“Throughout this entire process, our focus has been to ensure there was no interruption in services,” Corrections Secretary Julie Jones said in a statement Wednesday. “I am pleased that we were able to reach an agreement that will best serve those re-entering society.”
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