Program For Inmates Could Be Threatened By State Budget Cuts



Budget cuts at the Department of Corrections could end a Kissimmee program helping inmates prepare for life after prison. At Transition House, 170 inmates a year go through the program.
The Transition House in Kissimmee takes in these inmates for six months giving them therapy, job skills and drug counseling.
CEO Thomas Griffin gets about $1 million for the program, but now that funding is gone.
Griffin says most of his Transition House graduates stay out of prison.
“These people will get jobs, they’ll make all of their court ordered payments for restitution and fines and fees and everything else,” said Griffin. “They’ll be working, they’ll be saving money.”
Transition programs across Florida also lost funding, said Griffin. His hope is that the state dips into the rainy day fund to keep them going.
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