The Florida Senate

957.125  Correctional facilities for youthful offenders.--

(1)  The Correctional Privatization Commission may enter into contracts in fiscal year 1994-1995 for designing, financing, acquiring, leasing, constructing, and operating three correctional facilities, notwithstanding s. 957.07. These three facilities shall be designed to have a capacity of up to 350 beds each and house inmates sentenced or classified as youthful offenders within the custody of the Department of Corrections under chapter 958. Two of these facilities shall be designed to house youthful offenders between the ages of 14 and 18, and one shall be designed to house youthful offenders between the ages of 19 and 24.

(2)  These youthful offender facilities shall be designed to provide the optimum capacity for programs for youthful offenders designed to reduce recidivism, including, but not limited to: educational and vocational programs, substance abuse and mental health counseling, prerelease orientation and planning, job and career counseling, physical exercise, dispute resolution, and life skills training. In order to ensure this quality programming, the commission shall give no more than 30 percent weight to cost in evaluating proposals.

(3)  Effective July 1, 1996, the authority to contract for the operation of two youthful offender facilities shall be transferred from the Correctional Privatization Commission to the Department of Juvenile Justice, and those facilities shall be used for male or female committed juvenile offenders. The Department of Juvenile Justice is authorized to modify any operational contract with the same contractor to whom the Correctional Privatization Commission awarded the contract for these facilities, without rebidding, in order to conform with the requirements of this subsection.

(4)  The commission shall specify the area in which each facility will be located and require that each be located in or near a different metropolitan area in areas of the state close to the home communities of the youthful offenders they house in order to assist in the most effective rehabilitation efforts, including family visitation.

History.--s. 107, ch. 94-209; s. 23, ch. 96-422.