(The Center Square) — The Florida Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice met on Wednesday and was given a presentation on the challenges that Florida faces for its prison inmate population.
The Florida Department of Corrections in partnership with KPMG, was allocated $5 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year budget to produce a comprehensive prison modernization and staffing structure analysis, a 20-year corrections master plan developed over the past 15 months.
Committee Chair Sen. Jennifer Bradley R-Fleming Island, opened the meeting by stating that she had met with wardens from every institution across the state of Florida and that it is common knowledge that the Department of Corrections has been asked to do too much, with too little.
“The staffing increases, the salary increases have been helpful in changing the directory of our staffing challenges, but aging infrastructure, making sure we have enough beds to meet an increase in projections remain big challenges,” Bradley said.
Bill Zizic, Advisory Managing Director, Infrastructure & Government Strategy at KPMG U.S.,
stated that the multi-year master plan addresses the repair, maintenance or replacement of state-operated institutions in the Florida prison system.
The plan also included identifying appropriate appropriations necessary for safe, secure, cost-effective, and efficient correctional institutions that can deliver inmate health care, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and education.
Lawrence Spinetta, a former Air Force Colonel and corrections specialist at KPMG, presented the committee with the challenges that were identified – one of the biggest being the number of prison inmates that have been projected to increase significantly as well as crumbling buildings.
“The forecast inmate population is on track to exceed the total capacity as early as next year,” Spinetta said, adding that the FDC has immediate modernization needs.
Spinetta noted that the FDC has faced consistent staff vacancy and turnover challenges over the past few years. Because of these factors, the FDC faces security and safety risks to staff and inmates, which could also put the department at risk of being sued.
“The model predicts inmate numbers will rise from 85,000 to over 107,000 by 2042,” Spinetta said, noting projections also show that the number of inmates requiring medical care will increase.
Spinetta pointed out that FDC needs to simultaneously solve both infrastructure and staffing challenges to achieve sustainable operations.
This article First appeared in the center square