Re-Entry Gets a Boost in Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Fla., Oct. 14, 2009 - The Florida Department of Corrections, City of Jacksonville and Jacksonville Sheriff's Office received 750,000 dollars from the Federal Second Chance Act. Only 11 states out of the 119 applicants received these grants. The funds will be used to assist former felony offenders being released from Baker Correctional Institution and living in the Jacksonville area. Details of the grant will be made available at a press conference.

When: Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 at 2 p.m.
Where: Jacksonville Re-Entry Center (JREC), 1024 Superior Street

Directions from downtown:

Take Beaver Street west for about three miles.
Turn right (north) on McDuff Avenue.
Turn left on Commonwealth Avenue.
Turn right on Superior Street.
The building will be on the left. Parking is available behind building.

Who: Department of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, and Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford.

What: The majority (88 percent) of Florida inmates are eventually released back into Florida communities. Inmates and offenders who receive basic education, treatment and community aftercare services are less likely to victimize, commit another crime, and return to prison or jail. Department of Corrections Secretary McNeil has named lowering recidivism through reentry as a top public safety initiative.