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Pinellas Combines 2 Inmate Rehabilitation Programs

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2008

LARGO - In a time of dwindling budgets, Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats has salvaged two inmate rehabilitation programs by rolling them into one and having his staff do the work rather than outside contractors.

The single program – dubbed "Smart Choices" – was unveiled today at one of the buildings at the Pinellas County Jail.

The program is expected to cost $700,000 to $800,000, compared with the $1.5 million the two now-defunct programs cost, said Ramona Schaefer, program services supervisor at the jail.

There were two separate programs at the jail, which has male and female inmates.

One, Project New Attitudes, essentially was a life skills and job training program for male inmates, with little to no drug counseling, said Manuel Wolfe, program administrator at the jail. The other, Project Success, was a substance abuse program for female inmates, Wolfe said.

Under the new program, female and male inmates will receive drug counseling -- if they need it -- as part of a comprehensive approach to prepare inmates for life once they are released, Wolfe said.

The male and female inmates participating in the program will be housed separately at an annex building at the jail, formerly the old Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority building. Each pod has 56 beds.

The total number of inmates involved – 112 – is less than the 158 inmates who participated in the old programs at any given point, sheriff's officials said.

The women's old drug treatment program lasted six months, and the new program lasts only 12 weeks, so more female inmates will be able to enroll every year, sheriff's officials said.

One way the sheriff's office is cutting costs is by doing away with its contract with Operation PAR, one of the Tampa Bay area's leading drug treatment centers, and applying for the proper licensing so its own staff can handle that aspect of rehabilitation, Wolfe said. Wolfe and a licensed social worker on the jail's staff already are certified to counsel inmates for drug or alcohol addiction.

The sheriff's office also cut three positions from the two previous programs, Schaefer said.

The Smart Choices program is under way. The male inmates began their 12-week session Oct. 23 and the female inmates on Oct. 13 Inmates who qualify for the program have to have been sentenced to county jail as opposed to prison, and they must have at least 12 weeks left on their sentences.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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