Halfway house fights state closure

If James Rogers had not received the treatment he had at Bridges of America halfway house, he said he’d probably have been at a bar on Monday morning.

Or worse — he could have been back in prison.

Instead, he touted his success story in an attempt to reverse a Florida Department of Corrections decision to close the facility he said helped him successfully re-enter society after a seven-year prison stint for attempted armed robbery.

“Now I stand as an independent business owner,” he said.

Local and state elected officials — Republican and Democrat — attended an event Monday at Bridges on Mercy Drive in Orange County to urge the Department of Corrections to keep the facility open.

If nothing is done, it will close for good by the end of the year after the contract between Bridges and the department ends.

The state stopped sending new inmates to the facility earlier this month.

Last week, the Florida Department of Corrections announced a new program called Spectrum, which will offer many of the same services that Bridges provides, but inside the state’s prisons.

“Expanding substance abuse treatment at all levels of incarceration helps us treat the greatest number of inmates who are at the highest risk to reoffend.” Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones said in a statement. “Preparing these inmates with the proper tools to fight their substance abuse issues allows us to prepare them for successful transition into community work release.”

Bridges of America, which has filed a lawsuit against the department to stop the closing, offers offenders substance abuse, anger management and life-skills programs, such as vocational training. There are 688 beds statewide, including 136 at the Orlando location. There are other locations in Jacksonville and Bradenton.

Lori Costantino-Brown, president and chief executive officer of Bridges of America, said the program gives people being released from prison the tools to re-enter society and not go back to their criminal ways.

Without it, they are unprepared, she said.

According to Bridges, the perday cost per inmate in prison is about $63 compared to about $52 in a program such as Bridges.

Jones said the state is not reducing substance abuse and work release programs, but expanding them and making them available to more people.

“Today, more than 60 percent of the department’s substance use disorder budget is dedicated to treating only a small number of individuals. We know we can do better. We want to provide more services to treat an even greater number of individuals with the same resources,” she said in a statement.

Rogers, 28, spent two years in the Bridges program. He is now a vendor for Happy Feet, which sells shoe insoles.

“The man I was [before prison] was insecure,” he said. “I lacked confidence. Bridges helped me realize that I do have importance and I do have value.”