HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 Representative(s) Barreiro offered the following:
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13 Amendment
14 On page 22, line 8 through page 30, line 22,
15 remove from the bill: all of said lines
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17 and insert in lieu thereof:
18 (4) Facilitating placement in a private
19 transition-housing program, upon expiration of sentence, if
20 requested by an eligible inmate prior to release. If an
21 inmate who is nearing his or her date of release requests
22 placement in a contracted substance-abuse-transition housing
23 program, the transition-assistance specialist shall inform the
24 inmate of program availability and assess the inmate's need
25 and suitability for transition-housing assistance. If an
26 inmate is approved for placement, the specialist shall assist
27 the inmate and coordinate the release of the inmate with the
28 selected program. If an inmate requests and is approved for
29 placement in a contracted faith-based
30 substance-abuse-transition housing program, the specialist
31 must consult with the chaplain prior to such placement. In
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 selecting inmates who are nearing their date of release for
2 placement in a faith-based program, the department shall
3 ensure that an inmate's faith orientation, or lack thereof,
4 will not be considered in determining admission to the program
5 and that the program does not attempt to convert an inmate
6 toward a particular faith or religious preference. Under no
7 circumstances may any inmate be placed in contracted substance
8 abuse transition housing or contracted faith-based substance
9 abuse transition housing, until the inmate has served the
10 entirety of his or her lawful prison sentence in accordance
11 with s. 944.275 or other applicable law regarding percentage
12 of sentence served.
13 (5)(4) Providing a photo identification card to all
14 inmates prior to their release.
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16 The transition-assistance specialist may not be a correctional
17 officer or correctional probation officer as defined in s.
18 943.10.
19 Section 10. Subsections (1) and (2) of section
20 944.705, Florida Statutes, are reenacted, and subsection (5)
21 of that section is amended to read:
22 944.705 Release orientation program.--
23 (1) The department shall provide participation in a
24 standardized release orientation program to every eligible
25 inmate.
26 (2) The release orientation program instruction must
27 include, but is not limited to:
28 (a) Employment skills.
29 (b) Money management skills.
30 (c) Personal development and planning.
31 (d) Special needs.
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 (e) Community reentry concerns.
2 (f) Community reentry support.
3 (g) Any other appropriate instruction to ensure the
4 inmate's successful reentry into the community.
5 (5) The department may is authorized to contract with
6 public or private entities, including faith-based service
7 groups, for the provision of all or part of the services
8 pursuant to this section.
9 Section 11. Section 944.706, Florida Statutes, is
10 amended to read:
11 944.706 Basic release assistance.--
12 (1) Any inmate who is being released is eligible for
13 transition assistance. Those inmates released to a detainer
14 are eligible pursuant to s. 944.703.
15 (2) The department may is authorized to contract with
16 the Department of Children and Family Services, the Salvation
17 Army, and other public or private organizations, including
18 faith-based service groups, for the provision of basic support
19 services for releasees. The department shall contract with
20 the Department of Labor and Employment Security for the
21 provision of releasee job placement.
22 (3) The department shall adopt promulgate rules for
23 the development, implementation, and termination of transition
24 assistance.
25 Section 12. Section 944.707, Florida Statutes, is
26 amended to read:
27 944.707 Postrelease special services; job placement
28 services.--
29 (1) The department shall attempt to generate and
30 provide to every releasee, identified by the prerelease needs
31 assessment, support services such as, but not limited to,
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 substance abuse counseling, family counseling, and employment
2 support programs. The department may is authorized to select
3 and contract with public or private organizations, including
4 faith-based service groups, for the provision of these basic
5 support services. When selecting a provider, the department
6 shall consider faith-based service groups on an equal basis
7 with other private organizations. Provider selection criteria
8 include, but are not limited to:
9 (a) The depth and scope of services provided.
10 (b) The geographic area to be served.
11 (c) The number of inmates to be served and the cost of
12 services per inmate.
13 (d) The individual provider's record of success in the
14 provision of inmate services.
15 (2) The department, with the assistance of the State
16 Office on Homelessness, shall maintain and regularly update a
17 comprehensive directory of support services offered by private
18 organizations and faith-based service groups for the purpose
19 of assisting transition-assistance specialists and chaplains
20 in making individualized placements and referrals. The
21 following items shall be provided to the Department of Labor
22 and Employment Security job service office located nearest to
23 the inmate's intended residence:
24 (a) The job placement information obtained at release
25 orientation.
26 (b) Referral information for the needed basic support
27 service providers.
28 (3)(a) The Department of Labor and Employment Security
29 shall assign job service staff exclusively dedicated to
30 releasee services at those offices identified by the
31 Department of Corrections as having a high number of releasee
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 contacts. Those offices having a fewer number of releasee
2 contacts shall have designated staff assigned to assist
3 releasees. The Department of Labor and Employment Security
4 shall provide appropriate training for staff assigned to
5 assist releasees. Staff assigned to assist releasees shall
6 use job placement information obtained at each releasee's
7 release orientation to attempt to secure suitable employment
8 for the releasee prior to the releasee's arrival. Staff
9 assigned to assist releasees shall act to maximize releasee
10 placement opportunities in the job service office service
11 area.
12 (b) The Department of Labor and Employment Security
13 shall provide to the Department of Corrections data relating
14 to inmate placement, tracking, and market needs.
15 Section 13. Section 944.803, Florida Statutes, is
16 amended to read:
17 944.803 Faith-based programs for inmates.--
18 (1) The Legislature finds and declares that
19 faith-based programs offered in state and private correctional
20 institutions and facilities have the potential to facilitate
21 inmate institutional adjustment, help inmates assume personal
22 responsibility, and reduce recidivism.
23 (2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
24 Department of Corrections and the private vendors operating
25 private correctional facilities shall continuously:
26 (a) Measure recidivism rates for inmates who have
27 participated in religious programs;
28 (b) Increase the number of volunteers who minister to
29 inmates from various faith-based institutions in the
30 community;
31 (c) Develop community linkages with churches,
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 synagogues, mosques, and other faith-based institutions to
2 assist inmates in their release back into the community; and
3 (d) Fund through the use of inmate welfare trust funds
4 pursuant to s. 945.215 an adequate number of chaplains and
5 support staff to operate faith-based programs in correctional
6 institutions.
7 (3) By March 1, 2002, the department must have at
8 least three additional faith-based dormitory programs fully
9 operational and by June 1, 2002, the department must have at
10 least three more faith-based dormitory programs fully
11 operational, for a total or six new programs fully operational
12 by June 1, 2002. These six programs shall be similar to and in
13 addition to the current faith-based pilot program. The six new
14 programs shall be a joint effort with the department and
15 faith-based service groups within the community. The
16 department shall ensure that an inmate's faith orientation, or
17 lack thereof, will not be considered in determining admission
18 to a faith-based program and that the program does not attempt
19 to convert an inmate toward a particular faith or religious
20 preference. The programs shall operate 24 hours a day within
21 the existing correctional facilities. The programs must
22 emphasize the importance of personal responsibility,
23 meaningful work, education, substance-abuse treatment, and
24 peer support. Participation in the faith-based dormitory
25 program shall be voluntary. However, at least 80 percent of
26 the inmates participating in this program must be within 36
27 months of release. Assignment to these programs shall be based
28 on evaluation and the length of time the inmate is projected
29 to be assigned to that particular institution. In evaluating
30 an inmate for this program, priority shall be given to inmates
31 who have shown an indication for substance abuse. A right to
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 substance-abuse-program services is not stated, intended, or
2 otherwise implied by this subsection. The department may not
3 remove an inmate once assigned to the program except for the
4 purposes of population management, for inmate conduct that may
5 subject the inmate to disciplinary confinement or loss of
6 gain-time, for physical or mental health concerns, or for
7 security or safety concerns. To support the programming
8 component, the department shall assign a chaplain and a
9 full-time clerical support person dedicated to each dormitory
10 to implement and monitor the program and to strengthen
11 volunteer participation and support. By January 1, 2004, the
12 department shall submit an evaluation report to the Governor,
13 the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
14 Representatives on the faith-based dormitory program. The
15 report must contain the findings from an extensive and
16 scientifically sound evaluation of the program, including at
17 least a longitudinal followup of the inmates who have
18 successfully completed the program compared to other similar
19 inmates who have not participated and an opinion survey of the
20 faith-based service providers.
21 (4) Effective October 1, 2001, the Department of
22 Corrections shall assign chaplains to community correctional
23 centers authorized pursuant to s. 945.091(1)(b). These
24 chaplains shall strengthen volunteer participation by
25 recruiting volunteers in the community to assist inmates in
26 transition, and, if requested by the inmate, placement in a
27 mentoring program or at a contracted
28 substance-abuse-transition housing program upon the expiration
29 of his or her sentence. When placing a released inmate in a
30 contracted program the chaplain shall work with the
31 institutional transition-assistance specialist in an effort to
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 successfully place the released inmate.
2 (5) The department shall ensure that any faith
3 component of any program authorized in this chapter is offered
4 on a voluntary basis and, an offender's faith orientation, or
5 lack thereof, will not be considered in determining admission
6 to a faith-based program and that the program does not attempt
7 to convert an offender toward a particular faith or religious
8 preference.
9 (6) The department shall ensure that state funds are
10 not expended for the purpose of furthering religious
11 indoctrination, but rather, that state funds are expended for
12 purposes of furthering the secular goals of criminal
13 rehabilitation, the successful reintegration of offenders into
14 the community, and the reduction of recidivism.
15 Section 14. Subsection (1) of section 945.091, Florida
16 Statutes, is amended to read:
17 945.091 Extension of the limits of confinement;
18 restitution by employed inmates.--
19 (1) The department may is authorized to adopt rules
20 regulations permitting the extension of the limits of the
21 place of confinement of an inmate as to whom there is
22 reasonable cause to believe that the inmate will honor his or
23 her trust by authorizing the inmate, under prescribed
24 conditions and following investigation and approval by the
25 secretary, or the secretary's designee, who shall maintain a
26 written record of such action, to leave the confines of that
27 place unaccompanied by a custodial agent for a prescribed
28 period of time to:
29 (a) Visit, for a specified period, a specifically
30 designated place or places:
31 1. For the purpose of visiting a dying relative,
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 attending the funeral of a relative, or arranging for
2 employment or for a suitable residence for use when released;
3 2. To otherwise aid in the rehabilitation of the
4 inmate and his or her successful transition into the
5 community; or
6 3. For another compelling reason consistent with the
7 public interest,
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9 and return to the same or another institution or facility
10 designated by the Department of Corrections.
11 (b) Work at paid employment, participate in an
12 education or a training program, or voluntarily serve a public
13 or nonprofit agency or faith-based service group in the
14 community, while continuing as an inmate of the institution or
15 facility in which the inmate is confined, except during the
16 hours of his or her employment, education, training, or
17 service and traveling thereto and therefrom.
18 1. An inmate may participate in paid employment only
19 during the last 36 months of his or her confinement, unless
20 sooner requested by the Parole Commission or the Control
21 Release Authority.
22 2. While working at paid employment and residing in
23 the facility, an inmate may apply for placement at a
24 contracted substance-abuse-transition housing program. The
25 transition-assistance specialist shall inform the inmate of
26 program availability and assess the inmate's need and
27 suitability for transition-housing assistance. If an inmate is
28 approved for placement, the specialist shall assist the
29 inmate. If an inmate requests and is approved for placement in
30 a contracted faith-based substance-abuse-transition housing
31 program, the specialist must consult with the chaplain prior
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File original & 9 copies 04/27/01
hsa0005 10:51 am 00912-0107-210051
HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 912, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 to such placement. The department shall ensure that an
2 inmate's faith orientation, or lack thereof, will not be
3 considered in determining admission to a faith-based program
4 and that the program does not attempt to convert an inmate
5 toward a particular faith or religious preference. Under no
6 circumstances may any inmate be placed in contracted substance
7 abuse transition housing or contracted faith-based substance
8 abuse transition housing, until the inmate has served the
9 entirety of his or her lawful prison sentence in accordance
10 with s. 944.275 or other applicable law regarding percentage
11 of sentence served.
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