The second partnership was initiated just two years ago when the Legislature squarely addressed the importance of inmates accepting personal responsibility for their crimes. In 944.803 F.S., the Legislature required the department to develop partnerships with faith-based institutions in the community in order to assist inmates in recognizing their accountability. After addressing the needs of the offender s victim, and the importance of the offender s acceptance of personal responsibility while incarcerated, the final step is to address the importance of the offender s situation upon release. Now is the time for the third component to be put in place. While the overall conclusions and recommendations of this report suggest that significant improvements are needed, such changes will not come about unless agency leadership embraces pro-family policies.
Families are, by their very nature, a relatively powerless constituency.
And, the Legislature has traditionally delegated to the executive branch these types of prison management decisions. Even if the Legislature seeks to micro manage the prison system and impose certain pro-family services through mandate, it will most likely curtail its policy interference when it is warned that such change may threaten prison security, increase legal liability, or remove vital funding from mainstream rehabilitation programs. For these reasons, the bulk of the recommendations listed in the report are directed to the corrections professionals who are first and foremost charged with the protection of public safety and the best equipped to balance the needs of security with the needs of family unification. The challenge for corrections professionals prompted by this report will be to become a partner to families and view them not as a burden but as a new constituency. While the promise to our citizens is to be tough on criminals and maintain the tight custody and control of inmates during their incarceration, the citizens also are demanding a decrease in crime and relief from its impact.