I was trying to set up an interview with someone from the Fort Lauderdale Black community that had ended up in prison, and I was particularly interested in talking to somebody from the Sistrunk neighborhood.
I decided to call the Corrections Department of the Broward Sheriff's Office to find out how to set up a prison visit. The voice mail robot gave me an option to listen to a recording about the programs offered to inmates, so I took advantage of that.
The list was impressive:
- Anger Management
- Alcohol Abuse
- Substance Abuse
- STD's
- HIV/AIDS Programs
- GED
- Group Therapy
- Mental Health Counselling
- Relapse Prevention
- Work Release Programs
The list was provided so fast that I didn't get to write them all down, but I knew immediately that I wanted to talk to somebody about the group therapy, relapse prevention, and work release programs. I hit zero so that I could talk to a live person.
I was told by the lady who answered the phone that the recent budget cuts have necessitated the suspension of the majority of those programs. After two more phone calls I now know that I need to talk to a Dr. Ludwig at the Joseph V. Conte Facility at 1351 NW 27th Ave. in Pompano Beach.
I will be following up on this, but when 55% of the prison population in Florida is made up of African-American males, I have to ask myself how cutting funding for these programs is going to bring about drastically needed changes in the culture of Broward County's Black communities.
Are our prisons now little more than warehouses? You don't need to answer that. I'm currently reading Texas Tough by Robert Perkinson, and he makes it clear that this is exactly what some government officials want the prison system to be.
That needs to change.
PS. Three of Broward's prison facilities are within walking distance of MLK Blvd in Pompano Beach. The two photos in this NIMBY blog post seem to be a point of convergence for the three.
One prison is a block or two north, another is a block or two to the southeast, and the Joseph. V. Conte Facility is 1/2 block away to the southwest.
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