Florida Justice Summit explores alternatives to new prisons

Juvenile justice and prison reform were the chief topics of discussion in November at the Collins Center for Public Policy’s Florida Justice Summit in Tampa.

Co-sponsored by The Florida Bar Foundation, the Summit brought together nearly 300 law enforcement and justice officials, nonprofit organizations, business owners and legislators — all calling for an overhaul of the state’s overpopulated and expensive penal system.

Prison reform advocates argue that investing in rehabilitation and job training programs in prison is a small investment compared to the $100 million to build one state prison and the additional $25 to $30 million in annual operations costs. It would cost even less to invest in a diversion program to prevent at-risk youth from entering the system in the first place, said April Young, Collins Center vice president for justice initiatives.

“This is the question: Are we going to pour Florida’s future into corrections, or are we going to invest in measures that improve our state?” Young said.

Florida Department of Children and Families and Juvenile Justice secretaries George Sheldon and Frank Peterman were among the conference speakers, along with state business leaders Barney Bishop, CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, and Tony Carvajal, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber Foundation.

“We’re trying to pull together people who are interested in changing our justice system so that it costs less, but not just so it costs less, but so it produces people who can come back into our neighborhood and be citizens again,” said Collins Center President Rod Petrey. "We're not doing that now.”