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![]() (curfew) at the shelter, I sleep outside.” “They just left me on the street with $50 to fend for myself,” Wormley said. The state hired a new warden, rolled out new educational programs this spring and found a teacher for the GED class, which is back up and running.īut almost half of the inmates in Florida prisons have been incarcerated at least once before - and the share of them with more than three prior prison stints is growing. They also say Polk is improving as an institution. Prison officials cite programs designed to help with life skills, industry training and career placement. We just need to provide them tools to make that happen.” “I see these young men and women who are so capable and just want to do the right thing. “Once a person leaves the Department of Corrections, they are no longer a government problem or concern,” said Barbara Richards, who runs Project 180 in Sarasota, a program designed to help offenders transition upon release. ![]() The result has left inmates unprepared for life on the outside. And the prison is consistently outperformed by smaller re-entry centers across the state when it comes to educational programming. With fewer inmates receiving basic education, violence is on the rise at the institution. ![]() was forced to shut down its educational programming for about nine months after struggling to fill its lone academic teaching position. Florida’s largest re-entry center, with a primary mission to prepare inmates for release, Polk C.I. Polk Correctional is a poster child for the problems. You are just saying good luck.”Ī six-month investigation by the GateHouse Media, the newspaper chain that owns The News-Journal, found educational opportunities are evaporating for inmates within the Florida Department of Corrections. “You are not reintegrating them into society. Petersburg, who has led recent efforts to reform Florida’s prison system. “People are getting $50 and a bus pass after serving seven to 10 years,” said Sen. Like Wormley, they are almost completely reliant upon the support of the system. Officials estimate as many as a third of them will have no direct family or friends to lean on. Wormley is among nearly 22,000 inmates scheduled for release this year - and one of about 55,000 who will walk out of state prison by 2024. When he got out of Polk Correctional Institution in April, there was nobody. Wormley had originally come down to Lakeland from New Jersey to be with an aunt and uncle, who died while he was behind bars. He had a bunk at the homeless shelter but no job or permanent place to live. ![]() LAKELAND - Arvaus Wormley stepped out of the prison transport van wearing bright red Fila sneakers, cargo shorts and a plain black T-shirt - clothing a friend had sent him.Īfter five years of incarceration, his only other possessions were a state ID, reading glasses, some loose paperwork and $50 from the prison system on a prepaid debit card. ![]()
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