Gov. Bush announces first women’s faith-based prison

TALLAHASSEE (FBW)-In a move intended to allow faith-based organizations greater access to incarcerated women, Florida’s Gov. Jeb Bush April 15 announced the opening of the nation’s first faith-based prison for women in Hillsborough County.

The 300-bed facility in Riverview, which formerly housed young male offenders, will offer faith-based activities, seven days a week, to interested inmates.

Bob Greene, director of missions for the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association, who serves on the advisory council for Florida’s faith-based organizations, was among those who heard Bush’s announcement. Greene was joined by over 200 other faith-based and community leaders at The North Florida Education & Information Symposium.

A similar facility for men opened in Lawtey in December 2003 [see Nation’s first faith-based prison opens in Florida].

Promising to offer life skills, parenting, academic, education and transition classes, Bush said the prison’s program will in no way discriminate against inmates, but is the “right thing to do.”

“The programs will be strictly voluntary,” Bush said. “[R]eligious belief, or the lack of a religious belief, won’t be a criteria.” Representatives of a variety of faith-based groups attended the conference, including members of Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths.

Thanking those in attendance for being on the “front lines” in helping to restore those who are downtrodden, the governor said the State of Florida is full of “the most amazing people in the world.

“We are so blessed, we are so lucky to be in Florida,” Bush said. “Imagine a state where sixteen and a half million people … [are] committed always, little by little, each day, to do better, to be better. To be more loving.”

The governor said a result of faith-based programs in prison will likely cut down on the recidivism rate and facilitate the lessening of the role of government in social programs.

“Government will subside,” Bush said.

Greene, who told Florida Baptist Witness he has been on the governor’s advisory council for about a year, said he is optimistic about faith-based prisons - though perhaps still a bit unclear about what the term “faith-based” implies.

“I’d like to believe it can work,” Greene said. “On the face of it, it seems greatly challenging, but it’s really a noble experiment.” He said the governor must be greatly encouraged by the response to the first faith-based prison at Lawtey because he is seeking to “replicate” that experiment.

Critics of the governor’s approach have said they believe the programs will lead to a constitutional violation of the separation of church and state. Greene said he doesn’t see it that way.

“I see it as an extension of freedom in a place where people don’t have any,” said Greene, who believes the inmates will benefit from being in a place where they can freely express their faith and be nurtured by “people who love them.”

“Why shouldn’t we try something else?” Greene stated. “I don’t see an entanglement.”

Greene said one of his roles on the council is to be able help Florida Baptist entities and churches cut through the red tape to access resources for community programs in which they are already involved.

“While the faith-based initiative has never been intended or never will be used to fund religious purposes, there are many things we are already doing in the community to serve the poor,” Greene said. His role is to help groups become educated about the process and to apply for grants and other resources.

As DOM of the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association, Greene knows first-hand what it’s like to reach out to the socially disadvantaged. The Association nearly a year ago began a free medical clinic that has grown to include over 100 volunteers who dispense care two half days a week [see related story]. But the need is even greater and as the effort looks to expand, Greene said they will “absolutely pursue” faith-based funding allocations.

“Gov. Bush … reiterated that government just can’t do it alone,” said Greene. “He has spoken passionately in the past, affirming the role of churches and synagogues and mosques.

“Faith and community based groups need to be able to step up to the table,” Greene concluded.

[See Training Update for information about the second annual Criminal Justice Conference for volunteers and chaplains in local jail and state prison settings May 21-22 at Lake Yale Conference Center.]