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Reentry, pretrial services expand in Gadsden County; Appalachian center seeks council oversight of grant-funded program
Summary
Sheriff’s reentry staff and community behavioral-health providers described expanded reentry programming, a grant-funded forensic reentry initiative and efforts to implement pretrial services for people with mental-health needs; the council agreed to consider serving as a data-governance body, subject to legal review.
Gadsden County reentry staff and community behavioral-health providers outlined expanded reentry and pretrial services and urged the Public Safety Coordinating Council to serve as a review board for a new, grant-funded program.
Miss Murphy, introduced at the meeting as the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office reentry director, described a reentry program designed to support incarcerated people before and after release with skills training, education and clinical services to reduce recidivism. Murphy said the sheriff’s office partners with local educational providers, faith-based organizations and workforce programs to offer 12 therapy and education programs in custody, including high-school diploma classes, trades training and substance-abuse treatment.
Colonel Barclay and Murphy described an initiative to secure community-based treatment for people with serious mental-health needs. Meeting discussion referenced a grant from the Florida Department of Children and Families (presenters used the agency name in discussion). Participants in the meeting mentioned amounts while speaking (some figures in the transcript were inconsistent), so the council requested the grant documents for review. County counsel advised that the council should review the grant terms to confirm statutory compatibility before formally accepting oversight responsibilities.
Appalachian Center representatives described a DCF-funded forensic reentry pilot that provides day services, medication management, individual and group therapy, transportation, meals and case management to people on pretrial release, mental-health probation or conditional release. Jasmine Queen, identified in the meeting as Appalachian Center’s associate director of residential and forensic services, said the program offers transportation and helps clients obtain IDs, birth certificates and social-services enrollment. She said the program is structured to accept court-ordered referrals and also can provide voluntary services; the program currently uses grant funds to cover incidental needs such as medications, rent and utilities for eligible clients.
Appalachian Center staff asked the council to serve as the governing board for the grant so the provider could present quarterly data and receive feedback on local barriers. County attorney Louis Baptiste cautioned the council to compare the grant’s requirements with the council’s statutory duties before taking that role; the body agreed to review the grant and discuss the request at the next meeting.
Judge Cathy Garner and other court representatives described current first-appearance procedures and confirmed that judges can and do order people to community treatment as part of release conditions. Participants noted the county lacks a fully staffed pretrial-release officer; several speakers encouraged the council and partners to fund and staff that position, and to study Leon County’s pretrial operation and jail-information system as a model for improved coordination.
Appalachian Center said it intends to expand to pretrial services (court-ordered pretrial supervision) as the grant implementation proceeds; the provider asked the council to consider the PSCC as a forum for reviewing outcomes and barriers as the program rolls out.
