Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaNovember 29, 2016

An administrative law judge is recommending dismissing a challenge to the Department of Corrections seeking outside substance-abuse treatment and other transitioning-back-into-society services in Orange County. Bridges of America, the Orlando-based nonprofit that runs the program, has for months been waging a legal and PR battle to keep its facility open, and another in Broward County. […]

Staff ReportsOctober 14, 2016

Private prison operator The GEO Group says it has “no plans” to provide prisoner reentry services in Florida. Spokesman Pablo E. Paez responded Friday to a FloridaPolitics.com report this week on nonprofit groups saying the Department of Corrections was shutting them out of continuing to help inmates and probationers readjust to life “outside the walls.” Bridges of America CEO Lori Costantino-Brown and […]

Jim RosicaOctober 13, 2016

A Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Thursday said speculation about private prison operator The GEO Group muscling out nonprofits that run rehab and re-entry programs in the state “is false.” Spokeswoman Michelle Glady responded to a FloridaPolitics.com report earlier in the day. In a press conference, nonprofit heads said the department was shutting down programs that help ex-cons with […]

Jim RosicaOctober 13, 2016

The head of a nonprofit that runs prisoner re-entry programs in the state said she had “no evidence” her group and others were being muscled out by private prison operator The GEO Group. But, Lori Costantino-Brown quickly added, there’s been a “lot of speculation” that the company has somehow been involved. Costantino-Brown, president and CEO of Orlando-based […]

Peter SchorschSeptember 27, 2016

Bridges of America and the Department of Corrections are at it again. As Florida Politics’ Jim Rosica reported Monday, Bridges and the DOC are once more warring over transitional programs for the state’s inmates. This isn’t the first time Lori Costantino-Brown, president and chief executive officer of Bridges of America, and Corrections Secretary Julie Jones had a high-profile scuffle. A […]

Jim RosicaMay 11, 2016

The battle over Broward Bridge is over. The state’s Department of Corrections and Bridges of America announced a settlement Wednesday afternoon. The state had been planning to pull the plug on Broward Bridge, a residential program offering transitional counseling, drug treatment and other services to inmates on work release. Bridges, the Orlando-based nonprofit that runs the program, had […]

Staff ReportsApril 27, 2016

The state’s Department of Corrections has slapped a ‘top secret’ label on its plan to help ex-cons in Broward County. The department on Monday turned down a request by POLITICO Florida to release a “transition plan,” now that the state has ended its partnership with the Orlando-based Bridges of America nonprofit. Bridges of America had a contract to […]

Staff ReportsApril 25, 2016

The state’s prisons agency and a prisoner rehab program now are sparring in press releases. The Florida Department of Corrections last week said it was ending its partnership with the Orlando-based Bridges of America nonprofit. Bridges of America had a contract to run a transitional and substance abuse program in Broward County. The arrangement ends May 16, and the department told the […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 14, 2015

A Tallahassee-based advocacy group led by veteran lobbyist Barney Bishop has had a mass exodus of board members in recent weeks, including one who accused Bishop of being motivated by “self-aggrandizement and personal gain.” As of Monday, group founder and former chairwoman Lori Costantino-Brown and members Pamela Alvarez, Catherine Craig-Myers, Jim DeBeaugrine and Mary Lynn Ulrey had all turned […]

Tag: Lori Costantino-Brown

Judge finds for Corrections in drug-treatment vendor dispute

GEO Group says it’s not interested in Fla. re-entry services

Corrections says ‘we are not limiting services’ to inmates

‘No evidence’ GEO Group behind prisoner rehab grab

One reason to support Bridges of America in its latest dust-up with the Department of Corrections

Corrections settles case over prisoner program shutdown

State refuses to divulge new plan to help ex-prisoners

Bridges of America fighting to stay open in Broward

Criminal justice reform organization led by Barney Bishop bleeding board members