Halfway houses are known as the institutes for those with criminal backgrounds or drug abuse tendencies to learn or relearn the skills that are needed to enter the society and to get better support and care for themselves. For those who are curious why they are named halfway houses, it is because they are being halfway between completely independent living and in-patient or correctional facilities, the places where freedoms are rare. Aside from serving as a resident, halfway houses give some other services, including social, medical, educational, psychiatric, and so on.
While it is true that halfway houses are useful for those who have just out of the prisons, jails, or rehab facilities, there are some problems that come with it. In this post, you will be able to find out some problems with halfway houses.
Problems in Halfway Houses
To reduce the costs that are originally from the 2008 Great Recession that caused huge budget deficits, the government officials want to reduce prison populations. With that in mind, they think halfway houses are the answers. The more prisoners getting released, the more post-release housing is needed. The kind of thing for those who are just released from prisons, jails, or rehab facilities to live before reentry the community is called halfway house. It is the place between jail time and freedom.
As mentioned above, there are some problems with halfway houses. These places have been experiencing a number of problems. From these problems, it can be concluded that some systemic improvements are needed for the industry. If the government officials keep reducing their prison populations and more federal prisoners are released due to sentencing reforms, then halfway houses will need to increase their space. Besides, the quantity and quality of the transitional services they give should also be increased.
Problems in Florida Halfway Houses
Every halfway house has its own problems. Just like any halfway houses in the other states, the halfway houses in Florida also have many problems. According to Florida’s Tampa Bay Times in 2012, it looks like halfway houses in this state have a number of issues, such as failure to properly screen those who operate reentry facilities. For instance, there is a man who ran a halfway house business named Troy Anthony Charles. Before running this business, he had a massive criminal record. The man stated that he was at the site to offer addicts and alcoholics a safe, sober environment to stay in while at the same time helping them to find jobs and get counseling. Unfortunately, John Less told St. Petersburg police in the same year that the program was a scam and Troy Anthony Charles was just using the money that he earns from funding to buy drugs. Upon hearing the accusation, Troy Anthony Charles shot one of the halfway houses residents, murdering him, and went back to jail to face murder charges. From this case, it can be concluded that anyone could open a halfway house in Florida as there is hardly any regulation. The increasing number of those who have been released from prisons and jails every day is such fresh air for immoral people to open halfway houses.
According to the same report, there are a lot of halfway houses that are operated by people that have serious criminal records, including robbery, sexual assault, and drug trafficking. It is said that there was an operator that was banned permanently from a federal housing program due to improper billing. The irony is that he was able to start a new halfway house and is getting thousands of dollars from the same program. What is surprising is the fact that state officials do not need halfway houses to be licensed. That’s why it is not easy to keep track of such incidents. In fact, no one can find out the number of halfway houses that are being operated in Florida without licensing. A man named Darran Duchene, who oversaw federally-funded halfway houses when he was working for the Florida Department of Children and Families or DCF said that they have been informed that there are several thousands of those around the state at any one time. He said that they should be regulated from a business standpoint and then from a social service standpoint.
There are a lot of halfway houses that are ordinary looking homes located on quiet suburban streets. The Times reported that there are halfway houses programs in apartment complexes, old motels, and buildings once used as assisted living facilities for the elderly. Only a few of them have signs out front. A supervisor of a Pinellas County sheriff who is also a helper in finding houses for released prisoners named Ramona Scheafer stated that halfway houses keep popping up. However, she is wondering about their intentions. While she is aware that there are many people who truly want to help, there are some others whose intentions are not very pure.
Apparently, the amount of money that is available for halfway houses has caused some problems in Florida. Apart from that, the amount of addictions caused by prescription drug abuse has been increased. The real estate investors see this industry as a huge opportunity to collect money. They can get up to $3,000 a month from three bedrooms which each consist of two people. All the money usually comes from the government.
Starting from 2003, a good-intentioned federal program called Access to Recovery or ATD invested $150 million into treatment for addicts that were recovering. According to the Times, $30 million in federal funds has gone to Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and a few other counties in Florida. Most of them are for transitional housing. Initially, almost 300 halfway houses qualified for the money. Before getting banned from the program, a former drug user named William Garrison opened New Birth Abundant Life Ministry and made more than $300,000 in ATR funds. He reportedly made the residents pay $50 every week for food, even though it was already covered by federal funding.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
