According to Florida Statute 20.315 (5), “The department shall report annually to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives recounting its activities and making recommendations for improvements to the performance of the department.” The following accomplishments and recommendations are provided to fulfill those requirements.

Office of the Secretary

Office of the General Counsel (Legal Services)

• Handled or assisted with processing at least 305 public records requests, 808 subpoenas, 232 Corrections Mental Health Institution (CMHI) Involuntary medication
  hearings, and 24 CMHI recommitment hearings.
  
  
• Reviewed over 5,738 non-appealable employee disciplinary actions, 1,177 appealable disciplinary actions and 1,408 investigations for the Inspector General’s Office and provided legal advice in the area of employment law on a daily basis to central office, regional personnel offices and institutions.
  
  
• Represented the Department in court in over 500 cases relating to sentence structure and gain time and reviewed over 1,000 pleadings from the Attorney General’s Office.
  
  
• Coordinated with the Division of Risk Management in the management of 100 notices of intent and over 400 lawsuits pending against the Department and its personnel.
  
  
• Along with the Department of Corrections’ (DC) Office of Legislative Affairs, evaluated The Governor’s Commission on Administration of Lethal Injection’s “Final Report with Findings and Recommendations,” and submitted the Department’s response, reviewing and commenting on 40 separate recommendations in an effort to ensure a proper execution procedure and its implementation.
  
  
• Assisted the Office of the Attorney General in the defense of state execution procedures in the matter of State v. Lightbourne, Case No. 1981-170-CF-A-01, Marion County Circuit Court.
  
  
• Assumed the HIPAA Privacy Officer responsibilities from the Office of Health Services.
  
  
• Prepared a pandemic flu response plan for the Office of the General Counsel.
  
  
• Proactively filed claims and obtained reimbursement from insurance carriers for medical treatment provided by the Department to inmates injured in automobile accidents.
  
  
• The Contracts Section received 15 notices of intent to protest, seven of which resulted in formal petitions in FY 2006-07.
  
  
• Obtained orders setting aside sentences that unlawfully exempt sex offenders from sex offender requirements.
  
  
• Provided advice on implementation and interpretation of Anti-Murder Act, Restoration of Civil Rights Act, and the Jessica Lunsford and Adam Walsh Acts.
  
  
• Reviewed 59 notifications of upcoming releases of Sex Offenders without approved residences.
  
  

Inspector General

Bureau of State Investigations

• Received 26,645 incident reports during the fiscal year ranging from crimes against persons or property to inmate escapes to possession of contraband to inmate deaths. Of these 26,645 incidents reported to the IG’s Bureau of State Investigations, 4,696, official investigations were assigned and 204 were forwarded to State Attorney’s Offices throughout Florida for possible criminal prosecution.
  
  
• Conducted unannounced interdiction operations at DC facilities via the Contraband Interdiction Unit, conducted searches for illegal narcotics utilizing Inspectors assigned to the unit and certified narcotic canines, as well as searches for other contraband. During interdiction operations, searched employees, visitors, volunteers, inmates, vehicles and areas on Department grounds for contraband. Also subjected employees, visitors, volunteers and inmates to inspection by a chemical detection unit that used technology, referred to as the Ion Mobility Spectrometry, to find traces of illegal drugs.
  

Bureau of Internal Audit

During FY 2006-07, the Bureau’s Audit Section completed seven audits, five follow-up audits and six reviews. The areas audited included:

• Entering/Exiting DC facilities
• Statewide Vending Service contracts
• DC recycling program
• Tool and Sensitive Items
• Water/Wastewater contracts
• Jacksonville Memorial Hospital contract.

Areas reviewed included a special analysis of the Aramark contract’s per diem costs; an Operational Review of Hendry C.I. and a review of the staff housing program. During FY 2006-07, the Bureau also created and implemented the “Contract Management Review” (CMR) Section.

In addition to Drug Detection Canine Units, the Department also uses dogs trained to track and detain inmates who have escaped. These dogs are also called upon to assist local law enforcement with escapes, or when a child or elderly person is missing.

 

Deputy Secretary

Office of Information Technology (OIT)

• Developed the Department of Corrections Accreditation Management System (DCAMS) which offers the capability to evaluate actual operations against national standards and provides the opportunity to remedy any deficiencies, thereby improving the quality of correctional programs and services. Internal inspections are conducted by the American Correctional Association (ACA) unit of the Office of Institutions to ensure that individual institutions are prepared for the accreditation process. The DCAMS system provides a clearinghouse of standards assessed during ACA accreditation as well as the results and findings of internal ACA reviews.
  
  
• Implemented the Records Track system which provides the Bureau of Classification and Central Records a means to track public records requests. The Records Track system records the name and contact information of the requestor, a notation of any fees required to compile and return the request, as well as the date the request was fulfilled. The results of all public information requests on an inmate become a part of that inmate’s electronic record in the Inmate Record Imaging Systems (IRIS).
  
  
• The Office of Information Technology deployed the Emergency Action Center (EAC) Duty Log application on June 25, 2007. This application improves Emergency Action Center efficiency and effectiveness by allowing EAC operators to record and categorize calls received from the institutions. Calls can be categorized using over forty unique incident types. A standardized procedural checklist is presented to the EAC operator based on the incident type. This tool improves the ability of Security Operations to respond to and communicate emergency incidents.
  
  
• Completed the Offender Based Information System (OBIS) reengineering feasibility study. This effort resulted in an appropriation of $1.5 million to develop detailed OBIS system specifications and redesign and establish a project management office. The specifications form the foundation for selecting a replacement product for OBIS.
  
  
• Given the critical nature of services provided to the state of Florida by the Department, it is essential that the Office of Information Technology conduct annual testing of the Disaster Recovery (DR) plan. The DR plan was exercised in total in FY 2006-07. Recovery teams exercised components depicting critical processes within their individual units during an emergency scenario. The exercise tested communications with the central recovery center and several remote locations simulating statewide access. New hardware configurations and components added since the previous test were introduced by the engineering teams. The exercise strategies were focused on critical applications, areas with recent change, and known challenges encountered during past exercises. The primary recovery team performed their tasks from the recovery center.
  
  
• Implemented the new version of the Imaging system’s software, Stellent IBPM 7.5, on the backend servers and over 2,000 clients. The Imaging system provides the DC employees, Florida Parole Commission and Florida Department of Law Enforcement access to digitized offender records on the active offender population for offender management needs. This allowed for the uploading of 12,420,000 offender records currently in the system today.
  
  
• The Department’s primary information system, OBIS, was updated to implement the rule requiring the expansion of DNA collection to include all felony offenses. Institutions will receive lists of inmates being released who are affected by the new rule so that a DNA submission may be obtained upon release of the inmate. The expansion of DNA collection is a legislative requirement effective July 1, 2007.
  
  
• The Office of Information Technology and the Office of Community Corrections is piloting the mobile data access system, which provides Community Corrections officers the ability to remotely review and update information regarding supervised offenders while in the field.
  
  
• Programming updates were implemented in order to address the Public Safety Information Act (PSIA) and Jessica Lunsford Act (JLA) requirements to ensure that all cases are identified, as well as enhance officer safety and assist staff in their daily responsibilities. The programming included new databases/tables for victim information, juvenile sex offender identification, and inclusion of arrest history. Kidnap offenses were identified and this information is shared with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The Department of Corrections is responsible for the custody, care and treatment of more than 94,000 inmates and more than 150,000 offenders on community supervision.

Bureau of Grant Management

In January of 2007 the Bureau of Grant Development was established in the Office of the Secretary to assist in successfully acquiring grants, yielding non general revenue funds that would help the Department fulfill its mission. By April, the Bureau had a policy and procedure in effect to establish guidelines for the acquisition of grants, and began submitting grant requests to various federal agencies.

Bureau of Inmate Grievances

• Processed 33,025 inmate grievance appeals.

Chief of Staff

Public Affairs

• The Office of Public Affairs responded to 2,104 media calls, processed 56 Public Records requests, and coordinated 45 media interviews with inmates in various institutions throughout the state; and ran a recruitment slogan contest. The winning entry: “A Career of Courage.”
  
  

• Actual working Correctional Officers were used in the Department's recruitment campaign. Learn more at http://fldocjobs.com or call 1-866-JOB-FDOC.

  The Office of Public Affairs created, planned, initiated, executed and managed the Department’s multi-media recruitment marketing campaign. Various other DC offices played major roles in this project, especially the Office of Information Technology, as well as several outside vendors. This ongoing effort included creating and launching a new recruitment website (http://fldocjobs. com), procuring a unique web address and toll-free number 1-866-JOB-FDOC (1-866-562-3362), designing and printing several specifically targeted brochures and posters, and the creation, production and distribution of radio, television, print and outdoor advertisements.
  
  
• Public Affairs also compiled and edited 52 Correctional Compass weekly newsletters, which were emailed to 15,000+ (out of 28,000) DC employees statewide who have email, and 52 CO-eNewsletters, which were emailed to all Central Office (Tallahassee) employees to keep them informed of ongoing activities and pertinent news.

Office of Governmental Affairs

• Responded to 540 constituent inquiries made by Florida state legislators and their staff.
  
  
• Tracked 481 bills and provided detailed analysis on 120 companion measures and amendments during the 2007 Legislative Session.
  
  
• Lobbied successfully for the passage of the Department’s 2007 legislative package, which included these legislative priorities:
  
  
• Permits designated authorized emergency vehicles to use sirens and deviate from traffic control devices when operating in emergency mode. This provision addressed difficulties encountered while transporting inmates in medical emergency situations and assisting law enforcement during inmate escapes and mutual aid calls.
  
  
• Enhances the working relationship between community corrections, local law enforcement, counties and the courts by codifying several best practices, including the use of “notices to appear” and “notification letters of a technical violation,” when appropriate.
  
  
• Codifies a more accountable use of the Department’s Employee Benefit Trust Fund, while simultaneously allowing the fund to be used for employee appreciation and assistance programs and activities and charitable
  and community support programs.
  
  
• Requires the Department to conduct a caseload and risk-assessment study to determine management caseload ratios for offenders on state supervision by December 31, 2007.
  
  
• The following items were secured and represent funding above the Department’s FY 2006-07 base budget:
  • $164.4 million in fixed capital outlay funds for the construction of new inmate housing units.
  • $2 million in increased in-prison substance abuse treatment services.
  • $500,000 in increased inmate education programming.
  • $1 million to upgrade the radiology equipment at the Reception and Medical Center Hospital.
  • $1.5 million for the modernization of the Offender Based Information System (OBIS).
  • $1.5 million for new motor vehicles.
    
    
• Lobbied for the passage of House Bill 1477, related to forensic mental health. The bill provides matching grants to communities to bring together criminal justice, mental health, and community leaders to develop local programs to identify and treat adults and juveniles with mental health problems to reduce their burden on the criminal justice system. The bill also establishes the Criminal Justice Mental Health Policy Council, which will include a representative from the Department.

Office of Community Corrections

The Office of Community Corrections encompasses operational areas such as probation and parole services, interstate compact, and program areas including community and substance abuse programs.

• Implementing Anti-Murder Act (Senate Bill 146) – Community Corrections coordinated with FDLE in implementing the Anti-Murder Act by hosting interagency meetings and developing training resources and database programming. Since March 12, 2007, “Violent Felony Offender of Special Concern” offenders display on the Criminal Justice Network (CJNET), which assists booking facilities and the courts in identifying offenders who should not be released from custody until the court determines if the offender is a danger to the community. The DC is hosting meetings with FDLE, the Office of the State Court Administrator, the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget, the Florida Association of Court Clerks and Comptrollers, the Florida Sheriff ’s Association, and several other local law enforcement and court officials in order to discuss any legal, fiscal, or administrative impediments to the implementation of the Anti-Murder Act. The DC is responsible for preparing a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by February 1, 2008 regarding implementation and any recommended legislative actions, if necessary, based on the feedback from the participating entities.
  
  
• Implementing Cybercrimes Against Children Act (Senate Bill 1004) - The Cybercrimes Against Children Act of 2007 is being implemented by entering offender’s email addresses and instant message names provided by offenders into the Department’s database. Beginning October 1, 2007, this information is electronically transmitted daily to FDLE as required. This legislation was passed in order to comply with one of the federal requirements of the 2006 Adam Walsh Act.
  
  
• Sexual Offender License Updates (Senate Bill 988) – Community Corrections is implementing this bill by ensuring that sexual predators and sexual offenders on supervision who are required to register have their driver license or identification card updated by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with statute information to identify the offender as a sexual predator (775.21, F.S.) or as a sexual offender (943.0435, F.S.). Offenders are being instructed to report to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Office during the month of their reregistration to obtain their new drivers license or identification card with the appropriate marking “775.21, F.S.” for sexual predators and “943.0435, F.S.” for sexual offenders.
  
  
• Sexual Offender Registration (Senate Bill 1604) – Community Corrections is implementing this bill by instructing certain sexual offenders and sexual predators to register with the sheriff ’s office quarterly instead of semi-annually. This is one of the 2006 Adam Walsh Act provisions.
  
  
• Restoration of Civil Rights Initiative – At the request of Governor Crist, the DC and the Florida Parole Commission formed the Restoration of Civil Rights Task Force on April 12, 2007 to review offenders for the restoration of their civil rights. Felons who have completed their sentences are being reviewed for eligibility to have their rights restored to vote, serve on juries, and hold certain professional licenses. The Office of Executive Clemency recently revised the eligibility criteria for civil rights restoration and in doing so, increased the number of offenders who must be reviewed for restoration of civil rights. Training and OBIS programming was quickly coordinated, developed, and provided to staff to carry out the review process for offenders identified as Level 1 (offenders without certain violent offenses in the database, identified in the Civil Rights rules). The DC began conducting reviews on April 24, 2007. As of August 17, 2007, there were approximately 90,000 reviews remaining of the original 298,000 Level 1 offenders requiring a review for civil rights restoration.
  
  
• DNA Collections – Beginning July 1, 2007, the DC began collecting DNA specimens from the remaining offenders under supervision with any felony offense, regardless of their crime, if they have not already done so. This was the result of the Florida Legislature providing funding to FDLE for the final phase to expand the DNA collection requirement to include “any felony offense” as currently outlined in Section 943.325(1) (b) 5, Florida Statutes.
  
  
• Community Resource Directory – Community Corrections developed a ‘Community Resource Directory’ with statewide and local resources to provide offenders under supervision, probation officers, and judges with some of the available local and state resources utilized to assist offenders with employment and educational opportunities, as well as other resources and services that may benefit offenders. This directory is located on the DC public website and includes links to employment opportunities, social services, counseling services, educational and vocational centers, health services, transportation, and housing.
  
  
• Sex Offender Supervision Resource – Community Corrections developed and placed on the internal Community Corrections website a ‘Sex Offender Supervision Resource’ Web page which includes federal and state legislation relating to sex offender requirements, procedures, forms, training materials, treatment information, and other links for officers’ use in the supervision of sex offenders.• Probation Officer Recruitment Video – Community Corrections assisted in the development of a probation officer recruitment video that is available on the public DC website. It provides a brief description of the probation officer’s role and responsibilities.

Electronic Monitoring

• Provided Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system, radio frequency and related policy and procedure training statewide to approximately 971 officers and supervisors during the fiscal year.
  
  
• Despite a 57% increase in the GPS offender population from 839 active GPS offenders under supervision in FY 2005-06 to 1,319 in FY 2006-07, reduced the total number of alarm notifications per offender per month statewide from 14.3 in FY 2005-06 to 13.9 in FY 2006-07.

Absconder Unit

• Since the beginning of FY 2006-07, the number of absconders has continued to decline from 39,087 on June 30, 2006 to 32,134 on June 30, 2007, a reduction of 18%. Since its inception in 2001, the Absconder Unit has reduced the number of outstanding absconder warrants by 34%.
  
  
• The Office of Community Corrections Absconder Unit has enhanced its efforts to locate high profile absconders such as Sex Offenders and Sexual Predators.   In November 2006, the Unit implemented a Featured 40 list of Sex Offender Absconders on the Department’s public website.   To date, 19 listed sex offenders have been captured.
  
  
• An official agreement was established between DC and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) whereby the Absconder Unit will supply Absconder data to DCF, which can be compared to information in the DCF database to identify absconders who are receiving cash benefits through DCF.  The Absconder Unit is following up on the address information to ensure that all possible apprehension efforts are made.

Statewide Training

The Office of Community Corrections training section coordinated the training of Correctional Probation Officers in the following areas during the fiscal year:

• Gang members are often identified by their tattoos.

  Gang Interdiction and Drug Identification Training took place in April and May 2007.  Twenty officers from each region underwent the gang training to improve their skills in identifying a rapidly rising and dangerous gang population, and another 20 officers underwent training so they could recognize and identify illegal substances that their offenders may be possessing or abusing.
  
  
• Training in Sex Offender Management: Current Information on Supervision, Treatment and Polygraphs also took place in April and May 2007.  Statewide, Correctional Probation Specialists underwent this training to enhance their understanding of changes to FS 948.30, information provided by polygraph results and information on sex offender treatment issues.

Bureau of Substance Abuse Programs

• Provided over 37,717 offenders with community-based substance abuse residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment services (15.1% received residential services and 84.9% received outpatient services). These services were provided through over 100 contracts with community-based providers.
  
  
• Conducted 584,063 drug tests on offenders under community supervision.
  
  
• Provided mandatory, in-prison substance abuse treatment to 6,771 inmates during the fiscal year.
  
  
• The DC, in partnership with three community mental health agencies: Act Corporation, Inc., Henderson Mental Health Center, Inc., and Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, implemented three reentry and diversion programs for chronically mentally ill released inmates or offenders on community supervision. In FY 2006-07, 335 released inmates and offenders were referred for assistance to these specialized programs.
  The DC, in partnership with Act Corporation, Inc., implemented an innovative therapeutic community reentry program at Columbia Correctional Institution Annex. The program provides substance abuse treatment, life-skills, employment, and educational services including Adult Basic Education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) programs and a vocational masonry program. This Substance Abuse Transitional/Reentry program is designed to assist close custody males, who are ineligible to participate in work release.

Office of Department Initiatives

Recruitment and Training Management

The Department’s recruitment program has accomplished the following since its inception in November 2006:

• 40 hours of in-depth Recruiter Training for 64 recruiters statewide who are currently reviewing over 2,600 applications.
  
  
• Assisted OIT in creation of new Employment website: http://fldocjobs.com/, which averages 25,000 visitors per day and 100 interested recruit e-mails per week.
  
  
• Implemented toll free 1-866-JOB-FDOC (1-866-562-3362) Recruitment hotline, which averages 30 calls per day.
  

Field Operations

• Trained over 2,400 personnel at Basic Recruit Training Programs throughout Florida and over 30,000 employees for in-service mandatory training in areas including computer skills, report writing, auxiliary re-certification and other administrative topics.
  
  
• Transitioned the Department from the American Heart Association Basic Life Support program to the American Safety and Health Institute Basic Life Support program, resulting in a cost savings of $36,000.
  
  
• Updated 247 existing CPR instructors and trained an additional 199 CPR instructors.

Trust Fund and Audit Section

The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC) trust fund purchased for each of the four regions a state-of-the-art Firearms Training Simulator to help train officers in different scenario set-ups, which will be beneficial for our Special Tactical Teams, and to provide the training to satisfy the CJSTC scenario requirement. In addition, we now have the capability of creating our own corrections scenarios for training purposes.

Bureau of Reentry

• Secured $450,000 to provide Prisoner Reentry Initiative programming and services to select inmates returning to Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties.
  
  
• Implemented a $200,000 state-funded project in partnership with Operation New Hope, Inc., which provided reentry programming and services for inmates returning to Duval County.
  
  
• Continued implementation of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) grant that served select inmates returning to Palm Beach County.
  
  
• Conducted Reentry Seminars statewide for inmates nearing release.
  
  
• 27,456 inmates completed the 100-hour transition course and another 4,434 completed equivalent courses in FY 2006-07.

Bureau of Research and Data Analysis

• More than $16 million awarded to Florida by federal government: The Bureau of Research and Data Analysis applied for the FY 2006 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice.  This federal money is awarded to states that provide data demonstrating that they are housing aliens in their prisons. The awards were announced in June 2007 and Florida was awarded $16,683,483. This constitutes five percent of the total allocation of $333,695,957. Last year, Florida received $12,806,110, which was 4.5% of the total allocation of $287,143,095.
  
  
• Tracking and deporting alien inmates: The Bureau also established liaison with the Office of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staff to exchange data and compare alien lists, resulting in a streamlined identification and deportation process for inmate and community supervision offenders who are aliens. This liaison also improved communication and tracking of community supervision absconders.
  
  
• Developed and implemented a database system for random selection of Department employees for oral swab drug testing.
  
  
• Created a random list of interview questions to be used in correctional officer promotion interviews, ensuring greater fairness in opportunities for promotion.
  
  
• Assisted recruitment effort by providing data regarding turnover rates, specific institutions with recruitment issues in specific job categories, race and gender information, etc., as the Bureau continues to assess the Department’s recruitment initiatives.
  

Bureau of Community Relations

Donated books, including these, are given to children on visiting days at state prisons.

• 1,759 employees donated 15,549 hours for mentoring.
  
  
• Collected more than $5,500 in cash donations and another $5,000 in sporting goods-related equipment from college and professional sports teams, businesses, civic groups and private citizens for use in the inmate wellness program.
  
  
• Collected more than 4,200 books for children to enjoy when they visit their incarcerated parents. The books, donated by publishing companies, schools, businesses and private citizens, were delivered to regional offices and then to specific facilities for use by children on visiting days at state prisons.

Office of Institutions

Bureau of Institutional Programs

• Established seven new institutional academic education programs that used trained Inmate Teaching Assistants supervised by certified Academic Teachers to teach inmates. Eighteen such programs were in operation by the close of FY 2006-07; 309 inmates enrolled in these programs secured GEDs. Also, the bureau piloted a program at Jackson C.I. and Walton C.I. to test the feasibility of using computers to teach reading to slow readers. Program participants increased reading levels by .8 grades after only 15 weeks of instruction. The Department secured a $500,000 legislative appropriation to expand the program to a minimum of 10 additional correctional facilities in FY 2007-08.
  
  
• Established seven new vocational education programs in FY 2006-07 as part of a training initiative funded in partnership with the Agency for Workforce Development to teach construction trade skills to inmates within one year of their release date.
  
  
• Library Services provided general library services to 1,135,131 inmates and law library services to 563,508 inmates in FY 2006-07.
  
  
• Education and Institutional Programs secured $1.4 million in Specter grant funds to provide post-secondary vocational training to youthful offenders.
  
  
• Chaplaincy Services provided religious programming to inmates throughout DC holding 93,600 religious services with a combined attendance of 1.3 million inmates.

Bureau of Security Operations

Gulf C.I.'s Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT). Gulf CI's Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT) Champions: (L to R): Colonel Chuck Sexton; Officer Joseph Mastro, CERT Team Member (CTM); Warden Jerry Cummings; Officer Kenneth Stephens, CTM; Officer Michael Pabis, CTM; Sergeant Trampus Gray, CTM; Sergeant Kevin Romer, CTM; Captain Michael Mashburn, CTM Leader; and Secretary James R. McDonough. CERT Team members not present: Sergeant David Swain and Officer Jeremy Cross.

• There were no escapes from major institutions/work camps/road prisons during FY 2006-07 that breached the perimeter fence. However, one escape occurred from a reception center transport bus while in transit, resulting in a review (by a joint task force comprised of IG staff and Security Auditors) of security procedures during transfer, as well as the addition of numerous security enhancements to transport buses.
  
  
• The Security Audit branch completed a total of 49 security audits at institutions throughout the state.
  
  
• The Security Threat Group (STG) unit staff taught classes to Department employees including institutional STG coordinators in identification and tracking of gang members within the system, and to community organizations on recognizing, reporting, and preventing gang activity in the community.
  
  
• The STG unit staff attended and/or made presentations at several state and national gang conferences, provided guidance to local law enforcement agencies in the development of their own STG programs, and formed partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to share information, as well as with local schools and universities to teach anti-bullying/gang prevention.
  
  
• The Emergency Action Center (EAC) staff responded to over 29,000 calls, teletypes, and other requests for assistance from institutions, community corrections, other law enforcement agencies, and the public.
  EAC staff conducted approximately 2,200 National Crime Information Center (NCIC)/Florida Crime Information Center (FCIC) criminal background checks for various Central Office, institutional, and community corrections staff.
  
  
• The Special Teams section standardized the training for all emergency response teams (Rapid Response Team (RRT), Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT), and Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT)), assisted Staff Development in creating an annual training schedule to ensure 100% team member compliance with special teams training requirements, and developed a scenario based quarterly training program for CERT team members.
  
  

  (L to R): Century CI’s Canine tracking team first place winners (in camouflage, l to r) Burley Townsend and Jamie Sanders accept their award from David White, President of the Board for the Southern States Manhunt Field Trials. Participants in the competition came from sheriff and police department’s rescue teams and correctional systems in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri.

• CERT team members from Gulf C.I. placed first overall in the National Corrections and Law Enforcement Training and Technology Center Mock Prison Riot skills competition, and Century C.I.’s canine tracking team won first place in the multiple leash competition at the Southern States Manhunt Field Trials in Little Rock, Arkansas. Both teams received legislative resolutions commemorating them.

Bureau of Classification and Central Records

• Completed 18 operational audits on nine contract Work Release Centers along with unannounced security visits. Each contract facility was monitored using 76 operational standards, which encompassed security, program components, and food preparation.
  
  
• Processed over $12 million in new contract work release invoices using a centralized process to ensure validity of the invoice and enhanced payment turnaround.
  
  
• Received grant award to implement Phase II of the Prison Rape Elimination Act grant proposal (oversight by Office of Inspector General). Phase II involves “retrofitting” Brevard C.I. with security enhancements such as cameras and cell doors to allow for more effective monitoring of the inmate population.
  
  
• Converted Brevard Work Camp from a youthful offender camp to an adult camp to provide more adult beds.
  
  
• Automation of the Inmate Profile to provide important information related to an inmate’s criminal history, institutional adjustment, health, educational levels, visitation history, etc. for easy review when an incident such as a disturbance or escape occurs.
  
  
• Received a Davis Productivity Award for participation on the Jessica Lunsford Act (JLA) team for testing and programming for PSIA offenders, which plays a role in JLA implementation.
  
  
• The Prep Center processed all files from 37,289 inmates released during that period.
  
  
• Imaging Center staff processed 6,526,204 pages from inmate files.
  

Bureau of Facility Services

New Construction

• Washington Annex – Phase I completed February 2007.
  
  
• Wakulla Annex - started construction in the fall of 2006, with completion scheduled for June 2008.
  
  
• Santa Rosa Annex – Phase II - continued with construction of the 4th Secure Housing Unit with completion scheduled for March 2008.
  
  
• Lowell Work Camp - Started construction in fall 2006 with completion scheduled for November 2007.
  
  
• Suwannee C.I. – Design completed and construction started in summer 2007; completion scheduled for August 2010.
  
  
• Suwannee Annex – Design completed.
  
  
• Suwannee Work Camp – Design completed.
  
  
• Mayo Annex – Design initiated.
  
  
• Okeechobee Work Camp – Design initiated.
  
  
• Lowell Annex – Phase III – Design initiated for construction of an additional Secure Housing Unit and an In-patient expansion to Medical.
  
  
• Lowell Main Unit Expansion – Design initiated for construction of two additional Open Bay Dorms.
  

Aerial view of Lowell Correctional Institution circa 1990s.

Repair and Renovation

Included re-roofing more than 30 buildings at facilities statewide, re-working door locks and controls at Quincy Annex, constructing a duplex at Wakulla C.I., relocating arsenal at Lancaster, completing interview rooms at Lowell C.I. and Annex, and installing video surveillance system at Indian River C.I. Also relocated an emergency generator and renovated dorms at Hendry C.I. and completed repair work on Abattoir building at Glades C.I.

Environmental Engineering

The environmental engineering section of the Bureau of Facility Services ensures compliance with environmental regulations associated with water and wastewater treatment facilities, storage tanks, storm water and asbestos management. Other duties include evaluating potential sites for new prisons and expansion of existing prisons, contract management, coordinating with both public and private utility service providers for water and wastewater services, and implementing the design, construction, and renovation of water, wastewater, landfill, groundwater monitoring, and related utility programs in correctional facilities statewide. Some of the many projects completed this fiscal year included:

• Completed Asbestos removal at Apalachee C.I., Marianna WRC and River Junction C.I.
  
  
• Installed new Emergency Generators for water treatment plant and/or wastewater treatment plant at Apalachee C.I., Calhoun C.I., Caryville WC, Gulf C.I. and Washington C.I.
  
  
• Installed Low Lead Water Fixtures at Jackson C.I.
  
  
• Completed Design and Permitting to upgrade Wastewater Treatment Plant and Main Lift Station, and completed water treatment plant upgrades at Hendry C.I.
  
  
• Constructed new Water Storage Tank at Sumter C.I.
  
  
• Upgraded Gas Station Service Island at Union C.I.
  
  
• Completed installation of Chloramines Disinfection System at Charlotte C.I.

Sentence Structure

• Established Fugitive Coordinator in January 2007 to research and investigate 298 cold cases. Cold cases are defined as any offender who has been listed as wanted by the Department for more than 30 days. Cases on the original list ranged from 60 days old to over 60 years old and include escapes, Provisional Release Supervision absconders, Supervised Community Release (SCRP) absconders, inmates released in error, and Control Releasees revoked upon return to custody.The unit documents all new escapes and recaptures from prison facilities and provides monthly reports with updated totals.
  
  
• As of October 23, 2007, 18 cold case (12 from the original list and six added after January 2007 that were on escape status for more than 30 days) escapees had been recaptured, and several others had been located and deported, or found to be deceased, etc.

Bureau of Field Support Services

• In FY 2006-07, Department of Transportation (DOT) Squads performed approximately two million hours of work valued at $16.9 million and public work squads performed approximately 3.8 million hours of work valued at $56.7 million.
  
  
• During FY 2006-2007, the contracted work squads performed approximately 774,350 hours of work valued at $11.5 million.

Safety and Environmental Health

• Trained the Institutional Safety Officers as Fire Extinguisher Technicians with an annual savings of more than $40,000.
  
  
• Completed the renumbering of all buildings and evaluation of property for identification and valuation in the event of a loss. This was developed in concert with the Emergency Management System.

Office of Health Services

Tuberculosis case finding - The Office of Health Services, in collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Tuberculosis, conducted a Tuberculosis (TB) case finding at Lowell C.I. A team of DOH and OHS employees worked around the clock for three weeks in order to stop the spread of TB to inmates and staff. Three of the TB nurses working on this team were recognized by DOH at their Annual Statewide TB meeting for their contributions.

Continuing Medication Education - Fisher Medical Communications, a non-profit organization that provides continuing medical education in cooperation with the University of South Florida, is working with the Office of Health Services to provide free continuing medical education to Department physicians over the next year.

Taylor C.I. Transition – Successfully transitioned health care services for the almost 2,500 inmates at Taylor C.I. from a contracted vendor to DC with no interruption of services by implementing the successful hybrid model first developed for Region IV.

Psychology Internship Class Established - Established Pre-doctoral Psychology Internship program at Lake C.I. and selection of first internship class to enhance recruitment and retention of correctional psychologists.
Continuity of Care – Renewed Department of Corrections/Department of Children and Families Interagency Agreement to coordinate and enhance post-release continuity of care for mentally ill inmates.

Partnership with NAMI - Developed collaborative arrangement for Office of Health Services-Mental Health to partner with NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) to provide continuing education training (at no direct cost to the Department) to Mental Health providers in the community and DC clinical staff.

MMPI Training - Developed cooperative agreement w/ Pearson Assessments Inc., to provide a training workshop (at no direct cost to Department) at Lake C.I. by a leading expert in use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The event served as kick-off for the internship program and initiated a collaborative training arrangement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Coleman, FL.  It also led to ongoing negotiations with Pearson Assessments to develop a pilot program where Pearson will provide testing materials, software, data analysis, and additional training at no direct cost to DC.

OHS Psychiatry Handbook Completed - The Office of Health Services (OHS) has completed the Psychiatry Handbook: An Orientation and Resource Guide for Psychiatrists & Psychiatric ARNPs. OHS recognized the need for an orientation and resource guide for psychiatry staff that was both user-friendly and provided sufficient information for psychiatrists and psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP) working in DC institutions.Given the Department’s reliance on temporary psychiatrists, OHS recognized that a resource that provided a brief orientation to the Department’s mental health delivery system and policies pertinent to psychiatric care was needed. Accordingly, the Psychiatry Handbook will provide psychiatry staff with a compendium of the policies, acceptable prescribing practices, and procedures for the delivery of psychiatric care in DC. The Psychiatry Handbook was developed over a three-month period by the Director of Mental Health Services and a Psychiatric Consultant, with input from Central Office, regional, and institutional staff.

Mentally Ill Inmates - The current DCF/DC Interagency Agreement requires a collaborative creation of a web-based database system that would serve as the referral and tracking mechanism for the DCF/DC aftercare program for mentally ill inmates.Staffs from both agencies have been working together for over a year on this project. The new system is now complete and became operational in October 2007. We will be field testing the new system in Region I with Regions II through IV going online in December 2007. The new system will significantly enhance the referral process and should reduce the paperwork requirements for DC and DCF staff.

HIV Program - The HIV Pre-Release grant was renewed for FY 2007-08. The Pre-Release Planning Program offers transitional planning services to all HIV infected inmates prior to their end of sentence. This is a grant program funded through the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of HIV/AIDS. Services provided include:

• Individualized needs assessment
• HIV prevention education for positives
• After care appointments
• Transitional housing placement
• Referrals to other appropriate service providers
• Copies of appropriate medical records for the inmate and the aftercare service provider
• Follow up with releasees to ensure continuity of care.
  

ACA Audits - Hernando C.I. and Putnam C.I. met all American Correctional Association (ACA) audited mandatory and non-mandatory standards.

CMA Audit - Zephyrhills C.I.’s medical Department was audited by the Correctional Medical Authority (CMA) and staff was commended for the quality of care being provided to the inmate population.

Contracts - Mental Health Management, Inc. (MHM), who has a comprehensive contract in Region IV, has agreed to increase from 100 to 290 the number of mentally ill inmates served at Charlotte C.I., at no additional charge to the DC. MHM will have to hire additional mental health staff to accommodate the increase.

Training - Central Office Mental Health staff conducted training for Security staff at Dade C.I. The training focused on mental health issues pertinent to managing inmates with serious mental illness in an inpatient setting.

Direction

Meeting the Department's Mission

To execute its duties effectively, the Department is diligently working to implement cost-effective and efficient practices in order to meet its mission.   To help reach this objective, the Department will pursue the following and recommends support to that end:

• Increase vocational programming opportunities through competition within correctional industries and, thus, provide more inmates desirable job skills once they are released.  
  
  
• Increase educational programs which will foster the necessary reading and math skills for an ex-offender to acquire a job and become self-sufficient.  
  
  
• Restore and enhance in-prison and community substance abuse treatment which will help break the vicious cycle of drug abuse, crime, and incarceration.
  
  
• Provide the life management skills (e.g., household management, bank account accountability, etc.) and the accoutrements (e.g., driver license, social security card, etc.) to go with them.
  
  
• Increase faith-based programs which will allow for spiritual foundation to reduce recidivism rates.
  
  
• Provide those afflicted with mental illness under our supervision better pre-release planning and continuity of care while in prison and once they are released into the community.
  
  
• Utilize technologies, where appropriate, to assist Department personnel in meeting the Department’s mission of public safety.
  

A member of Gulf C.I.'s Corrections Emergency Response Team during their Mock Prison Riot Skills competition, where they palced first.

 

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