Florida Department of Corrections, part 2

Services

Three youthful offender institutions were visited: Brevard, Hillsborough, and Indian River Correctional Institutions. The team also visited the Florida Correctional Institution, an institution for adult female offenders that manages a small youthful offender program. The programs at each facility were similar and are described below.

Central to all four facilities is the Extended Day Program. This program uses a quasi-boot camp structure emphasizing constant activity to keep residents productively occupied in exercise activities, classes, or work detail throughout the day. Programming begins at 5:30 a.m. with military drill and exercise. School programs operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, with other scheduled program activities on weekends. The program operates in a regimented, military atmosphere. Residents are required to ask staff permission to pass by, to stand at attention in the presence of ranked staff, and to use “Yes sir” and “No sir” when speaking. The program uses a ranking system, signified by the color of hat the inmate is required to wear, for access to privileges such as telephone use, commissary access, and visitation rights. Advancement through these ranks is based on good conduct and satisfactory progress in the program.

The premise of the Extended Day Program is that youthful offenders are volatile and impulsive, so more intensive levels of activity are required to manage their behavior. Essentially, the program tries to wear down offenders physically so that they have neither the time nor the energy to engage in misconduct. A high level of activity and structure creates a more receptive attitude toward programming, particularly educational programming. Resistant youth are faced with the prospect of transfer to an adult correctional facility.

Florida’s youthful offender facilities offer standard GED programs, special education services, and vocational training. The facilities also offer medical and mental health treatment services, including therapeutic units for drug and alcohol abuse. In assessing program needs, staff identified a need for a violence interruption program and a life-skills program to assist residents in reintegrating into society.

Florida has attempted to separate youthful offenders from the adult population by dedicating facilities for the youthful offender program. However, the state’s definition of a youthful offender, essentially any offender between the ages of 13 and 24, is broad. Within the youthful offender facilities, attempts are made to further separate offenders by age and type of offense, but program activities generally mix program residents of all ages. The department modifies the Extended Day Program for very young offenders.

Because of their small number, female youthful offenders are incarcerated with adults at the Florida Correctional Institution. The youthful offenders at this facility are housed in a dormitory separate from the adult population. Although they participate in the Extended Day Program, youthful offenders are mixed with the facility’s adult population for all other programs and services.

Florida Department of Corrections, part 1

Brevard Correctional Institution, Sharpes, Florida

Florida Correctional Institution, Lowell, Florida

Hillsborough Correctional Institution, Riverview, Florida

Indian River Correctional Institution, Vero Beach, Florida

Program Descriptions:

The state of Florida operates a youthful offender program for inmates up to age 24 who have received an adult sentence and have been committed to the Department of Corrections. Offenders in this age group with an adult sentence of less than 10 years are eligible for the program. Offenders under the age of 24 who have been convicted of murder or who are serving life sentences are not eligible for the program. Florida law also permits juvenile court judges to certify individuals meeting these criteria into the program. The department can also designate individuals for placement into the program. 

The vast majority of youthful offenders in Florida, age 17 or younger, are participating in the youthful offender program. Exceptions are those youth who have been decertified from the program and transferred to adult correctional facilities. These decertifications are generally for disciplinary reasons. Decertifications have also been made to create space for new admissions to the program. Statutes allow the department to recommend sentence reductions to the court for youth who have completed the program and appear ready for reintegration into society. Several facilities report making recommendations for sentence reductions to the department’s central office, but to date, none of these recommendations have been forwarded to the court.



The department designates specific institutions to house the youthful offender program to insulate participants from the general adult prison population. These youthful offender facilities are further categorized by the typical age of their residents. Facilities are designated for two populations: (1) youth between ages 13 and 18 and (2) youth between ages 19 and 24. In practice, however, both types of youthful offender facilities house significant numbers of offenders of all ages. These facilities house youthful offenders with the full range of custody classifications, which include minimum, medium, and close management classes. Staff at these facilities must undergo a 40-hour training program on managing youthful offenders.

Management Issues, part 3

General Observations

SMU II appears to be the only institution in the United States that provides a super maximum-security environment for youthful offenders. However, this level of security is more a function of the way Arizona has chosen to manage and provide programs for this population than a reflection of the nature of the offenders. Although violent and disruptive, the offenders housed in SMU II are not significantly different from the juvenile offenders found in the segregation units of most maximum-security juvenile correctional facilities across the country. SMU II’s innovative approach to programming for these difficult-to-manage youth is unique. The juvenile unit at SMU II functions as a controlled setting for the delivery of services to juveniles who have been disruptive to the general facility population.

Within the tightly controlled context of a super maximum-security facility, SMU II staff have developed programs that complement the facility security. Staff use the control aspects of the environment to increase incentives to participate in educational and treatment programs. The program offerings are well developed, are specific to population needs, and have written criteria to evaluate progress and performance. Moreover, the offenders' progress through these programs is connected to the reclassification of the offender back to the general population. The concerns that might be expressed about the impact of a maximum-security environment on youth appear to be substantially mitigated by the quality of the programs offered at the facility and the incentives for offenders to use these offerings productively. The enhanced control and discipline of SMU II may provide the degree of structure required to successfully control and provide program services for certain types of youthful offenders.