Visitation at Largo Residential Re-entry Center

Visitation at the Largo Residential Release Center takes place on weekends from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Just like at the regular prisons, visitors must successfully pass a background check.

Visitors must bring a picture ID. They can bring up to $50 to purchase food, car keys, decks of cards, cigarettes and a lighter. Cell phones are not permitted and purses and other items must be left in cars. Both visitors and the residents have a metal detecting wand run over them. They are not patted down like at the prisons. Visitors with children are allowed to also bring in diaper bags, bottles and toys.

Visitors park in an adjoining fenced-in, wood chip-covered parking lot. When it rains, visitors must wade through water (with floating wood chips) that is often ankle deep. If it rains hard, the water comes up to the knees.

Visitors meet with their loved ones in an L-shaped, high-walled outdoor courtyard. During the summer, the temperature reached 98 degrees and upward. Up until last week, there were three awnings that shaded approximately six round tables. The rest of the tables were in the sun. Last weekend, they added three more awnings. A number of tables remain in the sun.

When it rains, visitors are allowed to sit inside the air-conditioned cafeteria after the Center's residents have eaten lunch. Before the summer heat became unbearable, elderly relatives visited, but they haven’t been seen for awhile - undoubtably from the intense heat. There are approximately 15 round tables and three picnic tables crowded into the visitation area. Most of the tables are placed on crushed white shells. A concrete-floored section contains a small smoking area, two water fountains and a Coke machine. Two security cameras are mounted on the sides of the adjoining building.

Ted's mom and dad used to stay and visit with him at the Center for three hours or more, but the extreme temperature now makes it impossible to stay for more than an hour and a half at the most.

After 1:30 p.m., the last residents have finished eating lunch and the cafeteria is opened for visitors to purchase food. The food is actually very good and usually baked chicken, two types of pizza, and hamburgers are offered with sides of French fries, vegetables and potatoes. Sometimes they have other specialty items such as steak or Mexican dishes. Desserts consist of gourmet pieces of banana cream cheesecake, chocolate cream cake and baked cookies. The food is quite inexpensive and an entire meal can be purchased for $3.50. Bottled and can drinks are sold, as well as packaged ice cream. A long counter holds microwaves and free condiments such as ketchup, salt and pepper. (Prison inmates have to purchase condiments in small packets.) Some of the residents work permanently in the food preparation and service area instead of holding outside jobs.

The visitor line to purchase food is usually quite long. Once visitors have bought their food, they must proceed outdoors to eat in the stifling heat - unless it rains. Then they can stay inside the cafeteria (air conditioning!) to eat at long tables. A rec room adjoins the cafeteria and residents can relax on couches to watch the selected DVD-of-the-day or sit at one of four square tables to play games. Supervisors can oversee both the cafeteria and rec room through two glass-windowed observation rooms.

Even so, cell phones have been smuggled into LRRC. Two weeks ago, a resident was taken out in shackles during visitation in full view of the visitors. He had smuggled a cell phone into the facility and was being escorted back to prison.

Ted’s classification officer initially received his home visit paperwork on June 1st. (The paperwork was mailed out on May 24th.) Today he was approved to get a home visit to his mother’s house, but not his father’s. A reason for denying his father wasn’t provided. Ted will not be able to come home this weekend, as he must submit a form a week in advance once the paperwork has been approved by the classification officer, warden and the release center. It took 51 days for the home visit paperwork to be approved by all three. (From the time the paperwork was mailed until the home visit will be 67 days.)

Ted will get his first home visit less than two weeks before his release on August 13th. The first home visit is four hours, the second home visit is six hours and additional home visits are eight hours. Home visits are either on Saturday or Sunday and begin at 10 a.m. The family member must have a land line (not cell phone) so that the facility supervisors can call to check to see if the LRRC residents are indeed at home and haven't gone anywhere else.

Reasons to smile

Since I’ve gotten here, I’ve never felt better. I still can’t believe they let me leave by myself to go find a job.

Nobody yells at me here. I don’t have to eat that stuff that DOC calls food. I had almost forgotten what real food tasted like. They offer steak, chicken wings, cheese burgers, French fries, and all the condiments we want to use. Even barbeque sauce! We also get just about any kind of soda we want for free and if they don’t have what you want, there’s seven vending machines – four for sodas and three for snacks.

Then after dinner is over, they put a movie on the big screen TV [in the common room]. Also they have a long book shelf filled with some really good books. Just about any author you’d want. I’ve seen like 30 books I want to read. I’ll have to read one when I get some time.

It’s just now really starting to feel like I’m close to going home. I can’t wait.

More about the Largo Residential Reentry Center

The Largo Residential Reentry Center web site describes the program as a facility which serves nonviolent male offenders transitioning from Florida correctional facilities, assisting them with their re-entry into society.

Participants live at the Goodwill corrections facility in Largo for three to nine months while working at least 35 hours per week. Participants receive assistance finding employment and attend counseling sessions and life skills classes.

Ted’s name was on a sign-up sheet for a Substance Abuse class in the lobby. The only substance abuse classes that Ted ever attended were when he was 16 at PAR and at age 17 at Avon Park Youth Academy.

The sign on the front of the Center says Goodwill Industries-Suncoast, Inc. There is another Goodwill work release center on Gandy Blvd. in St. Petersburg. The Largo Center residents were taken to the St. Petersburg Center to purchase their used clothing items with their $20 vouchers. There is no thrift shop located at the Largo Center. Goodwill does have an Online Store with collectibles, clothing, electronics, jewelry and more.

According to the FL DOC site that lists Inmate Programs, the Largo Residential Re-entry Center does not have chaplain services. Ted thought that there might be transportation offered to a local church however.

Ted was called into the office last week for not attending GED classes. Ted told them he already had his GED and they apologized and removed him from the class list.

During our visitation today, Ted said the residents get excellent free meals – items such as pot roast, macaroni and cheese, and fish. He said the food is much better than the food in the prisons. There is a soda machine that offers lemonade, grape soda and more. In addition, residents can elect to buy deluxe food items such as strip steak, fried shrimp, and Oreo cookie cake. Ted informed me that he did not intend to use his job earnings to buy the deluxe food – the everyday free food items were quite good enough. I’m sure he’ll get the Oreo cake once in a while though!

Ted will be taken to get a Florida photo ID this week and he thinks he can start applying for jobs after he gets this ID. He was told that some businesses actually prefer to hire residents from the Largo Residential Reentry Center. The businesses know that the residents will be at their jobs on time and be there every day.

Photos: The Largo Residential Reentry Center. Behind the bike rack is the parking lot with the basketball hoop and picnic table. To the right of that lot is a large field with a track around it. Click photos to enlarge.

Largo Residential Reentry Center

I had my first visit with Ted today at the work release center. The name of the Center is the Largo Residential Reentry Center, but it’s actually in Clearwater.

Ted arrived on Wednesday. Housed in a renovated motel, the Center has two stories. Ted stays with 13 other residents in a room on the second floor. The walls between three average-sized motel rooms were knocked out to form their large room and seven bunk beds were installed. Ted has a top bunk three feet from a window. There are three showers and three windows in their room and each resident has their own large locker (with lock) in which to keep their belongings. The floor is not carpeted, but is blue.

Ted said the Center has 296 residents. (The FL DOC site lists 265 residents.) It is the largest residential reentry center in Florida and Ted said it opened around 2008. The rooms have all been remodeled and look new. A basketball court and picnic table are in what used to be a parking lot. Trees line a field and track next door. A chain-link fence surrounds the whole residence.

I brought Ted some new clothes and apparently two of the pairs of pants don’t fit and his old shoes which I brought from home are too small. They will let me switch out those clothes for others.

He left the visit early today to go with five other residents to a Goodwill store to buy other items he might need in the way of clothing. He was given a $20 voucher, but he will need to reimburse that out of his future earnings. (He just called and told me that the $20 bought two pairs of jeans and one pair of dress pants that were a little too long, but they didn’t have anything else.)

They also charged him $25 for a new ID and $55 for a bus pass, which he will need to pay back. The total amount he needs repay is $114. That amount includes charges for laundry costs. Ted is responsible for washing his own clothes.

Ted has only one month to find a job, not three months as another inmate told him at Orlando. Many of the residents work at telemarketing jobs and there is a business just down the road that sells magazine subscriptions. A little farther south within walking distance is a large shopping center with a grocery store, several restaurants, office supply store, video rental store, theater and several small shops. Many of the residents have bikes to get to their jobs, others take the bus. Residents are not allowed to have cars.

Ted told me that two of the Center’s residents were returned to prison and two were returned to jail yesterday for escaping. He was supposed to go to the thrift shop last night, but all the vans were out looking for these residents. Apparently, when a couple of the residents were supposed to go to their jobs, they were sent home, and instead of returning to the Center, they went out with their girlfriends. If the residents aren’t at work, they need to be at the Center - otherwise it’s considered an escape attempt.

When residents begin to build money in their accounts, they can buy extra food – even steak. Ted ate breakfast and lunch (steak!) during the visit – a steak costs only $4. It was the first time in two years he ate bacon and steak. Ted said the food is much better at the Center than in prison. For breakfast (for both residents and visitors) this morning, they served scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, [what looked like] corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy. The food definitely tasted better than some local restaurants.

Residents have one large common room (off of the cafeteria at the front of the Center) that has one TV. They can watch news in the morning and rented movies in the evening. Several shelves in the room contain many books for the residents to read. There is one computer off to the side for residents to play Solitaire or another computer game.

There are many phones which the residents can use – some are free and some are payphones. Ted said the lines for the free phones are usually pretty long. He has access to a phone book and Help Wanted ads in the newspaper that he can call for job openings.
Ted can begin to apply for jobs once he has his new ID. He thinks he will get the ID on Monday.

I finally received a letter from Ted on Friday with several blog entries so I’ll have plenty of upcoming posts. He told me he mailed the letter back when he first arrived at the CFRC in Orlando.

Photo: Google Earth photo of the Largo Residential Reentry Center. A mobile home park is behind the Center and not part of the residence. Click photo to enlarge.

Getting canteen

The one thing anybody in prison can hope for at the end of the day is getting a money receipt saying somebody put money in your account so you can buy canteen.

It’s hard not having canteen. Without it, it seems like you never eat enough and your personal hygiene is lacking. Once you get a money receipt though, it’s like hitting the lottery. You can’t wait for the next day when you can go buy whatever you want. It’s the one thing nobody can stop you from doing.

When the next day comes and the canteen line opens up, everybody rushes toward the line, but unless you’re already right there waiting for it to open, you’ll always end up at the end of the line. To get to the front of the line can take an hour or two, but it’s worth it.

Once you finally get what you want, your first instinct is to hide it like it’s a pile of gold. There are a lot of people who don’t get money and don’t care to take what you have. Where I’m at right now, it’s not too much of a problem, but new people come in all the time. As long as you have a lock [on your locker], you’re alright.

To put money into an inmate’s canteen account, visit www.JPay.com. You will need the inmate’s name and DC number. Ted’s number is #131948 (Theodore Braden). Ted does have a lock on his locker and keeps his books, letters and items from canteen in the locker.

I spoke with Ted on the phone today. He informed me that his upper back molar (with the big hole in it) will not be filled. It will be pulled (possibly on Tuesday). I can’t imagine having a tooth pulled and only getting Ibuprofen for the pain!

My new job

For the last two months, I’ve been working in the kitchen washing pots and pans, but just this last week I was promoted to cook.

At first even though I was excited, I was also nervous because the thought of making food for 300 people seemed a little overwhelming.

My first day, though, I realized it was actually pretty easy. All I need to learn were the recipes (which are all written down if I needed them) and where all the different foods were kept. I learned all that in about an hour.

I’ve been a cook for a few days now and it’s a breeze. I really like learning how to make all the different kinds of food. I really expected it to be a lot harder considering my only real cooking experience involved a microwave.

Who knows? Maybe when I get out, I’ll have enough experience to get a job as a cook.

Answers to your questions

I sent a long list of questions to Ted on October 27, 2009 when he was at the Central Florida Reception Center (CFRC) in Orlando. Here’s what he sent back on November 6, 2009:

Answers to your questions
(Uhhh Here we go)

Do you have a mattress at least on the floor or are you sleeping on the hard floor?
I have a bottom bunk here in Orlando.

Is the floor cement?
The floor is made of cement.
(He had been sleeping on the floor in the box at Brevard.)

Do you have A/C?
No A/C, but it’s cool outside at night, so it’s okay.

Is it too hot or too cold there?
It’s not too hot or cold as of now.

Are there bugs like before?
Not as many bugs here as at Lake Butler.

Is the cell dirty?
Every cell in prison is dirty.

What do you have for bedding? Pillow? Blanket? Sheets?
I have no pillow, 2 sheets, 1 blanket, and a thin mat.

Can you tell me about your cellmates other than the fact that they’re cool?
I don’t really know my new cell mate. He’s quiet.

You don’t get to go outside at all in solitary? Just to showers?
You can’t go outside when you’re in the box except after 30 days and then when you do go outside, it’s in a tiny human, dog cage that’s not even big enough to run around and you can only go out there for 3 hours a week at the most.

Are the showers for the regular cells also 20 minutes long?
Showers are for 1 – 2 minutes in regular cells.

Are they too hot or too cold or can you adjust the water temperature?
You can’t adjust the shower temp, but the showers are always either way too hot to get in or way too cold.

Do they give you soap, shampoo and a towel?
Yes, they give us soap and a towel. No shampoo.

When you first got there, what were you issued? Towel? Toothbrush? Soap? Toothpaste?
(Describe all items you were given on first day)
When I first got to Brevard, they give you sheets, blanket, soap, laundry bag, towel, new clothes with your name and DC# stitched on, a razor, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Did you get a rulebook?
Yes, I got a rulebook from Brevard.

Can you tell me about guards or other kids there, or is that not allowed? Can you write about them, but not use names perhaps?
I can’t write about guards and I don’t know anything about anybody else to write about.

Can you buy a TV in the canteen? Radio?
AH Ha There’s no TV on canteen, but you can buy a radio.

Now that weather is getting colder, can you buy long underwear or a sweatshirt or something? (Why do mothers always ask this?)
I’m not really sure about sweatshirts yet. I’m trying to find out though.

How far do you have to walk to get to the shower? Do you pass other cells on the way?
When I was in the box at Brevard, the shower was about four feet from my cell. Why they had to handcuff me to walk four feet, who knows?

What are the walls made out of in the cell? What color are the walls and floor?
The floor is gray and the walls are white.

What’s in the cell? Two beds, toilet? Shelves? Table? Where do you keep your stuff?
There’s 2 beds, a metal toilet/sink, and 2 metal lockers on the floor (at Orlando).

What have you bought so far in the commissary?
All I really buy on canteen is food. I was buying cigarettes at Lake Butler, but since I keep getting transferred, I think I might try and quit. It’s more stressful to start and stop.

Does anybody take your commissary stuff?
I’ve had some envelopes stolen, but that’s it so far. Oh yea, send more. Someone stole 10 last night when I took a shower.

Did you buy a deck of cards in solitary?
You can’t have cards in the box.

Did you get any of my books yet?
I didn’t get your books. I probably won’t now.
(He did eventually get all the books I sent when he got to the work camp at Lancaster.)

Did you ask the chaplain for a visit and a Bible?
I didn’t ask the chaplain to come see me, but I did get a nice Bible though. I read it every night.

What kind of food do you get for meals? Do you get enough? Is it good?
We get meatloaf, hot dogs, oatmeal, grits, eggs, coffee cakes, noodles, spaghetti, etc… Really we get a little bit of everything. It never seems like enough, but it’s better than the county jail.

Have you been able to get any books from the library?
I don’t know how the library works.

Have they told you anything about getting your wisdom teeth pulled?
!* IMPORTANT: They won’t pull my wisdom tooth because they said it was fine. I saw the dentist at Brevard last Thursday.

Will you be able to take a CDL class or any other class?
I’m not sure if I even have enough time to take a trade. They say I need at least a year or more.

What do people do when they’re outside? Just start fights?
People just sit around outside. All the fights are inside where the CO can’t see.

Do you know how tall you are now?
I don’t think I grew, but who knows?

Whoo…from now on if you ask like 1/12 the questions, I’ll answer them in more detail.

Ted later explained to me that the toilet and sink were one piece. The sink is on the back of the toilet.

Canteen

I'm waiting on some new letters from Ted. Here is an entry he sent a while ago.

Items in canteen that I know about:

Ramen noodles
Honeybun
Different kinds of cookies
Photo album
Paper
Pen
Pencil
Cigarettes
Rolling papers
Lighter
Sodas
Soap
Shampoo
Deodorant
Hair grease
Brush
Kool-Aid
Hamburger
A-1 barbeque sauce packet (my favorite)
Burrito
Bear claw
Tuna
Chili
Beef stew
Envelopes
Stamps
Fireballs
Jolly Ranchers
All kinds of candy bars
Chips
Pickles
Radio
Lotion
Shoes
Shower slides
Thermals (shirt, pants)
Crackers
Chili dog
Folders
Cheese Squeeze
Cinnamon roll
Slim Jims
Property bag
Plastic cup (no bowls)
Spoons
Padlock

There’s more, but I don’t know what else there is. There isn’t a list like in County Jail.

At visitation, there’s a list on the wall for visitors and the inmates to order from. Small packets of sugar, creamer and condiments sell for a few cents each. (Aren’t we lucky to get it for free on the outside?) Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pizza, and similar sandwiches are frozen and must be heated in one of the three microwaves in the visitation room. Ted particularly has a fondness for the Snickers ice cream bars but can hardly eat them because of the pain in his tooth.

The Keefe Group is a supplier for correctional facilities. A list of their items can be found here.

The kitchen

I love working in the kitchen. Even though I just scrub pots and pans all day, it’s still a great job.

Of course, the best thing about the kitchen is the food. There’s always too much food for all of us to eat.

To me, though, that’s not why I like the job so much. I enjoy it so much because everyone in the kitchen is easy to get along with and we all just joke around. Sure we do our jobs, but we have a long break from about 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and during that time we eat, drink, go outside and just hang out.

If I didn’t get along with the people in the kitchen, I obviously wouldn’t want to work there. Oh yeah, and the COs are cool too. As long as we follow the rules, they stay away from us. What more could I ask for?

Ted currently works from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. in the kitchen, except for Tuesdays and Wednesdays - his days off. He hopes he can become a cook, which would provide good training for a possible future job.

Is the Pinellas County Jail starving inmates?

Ted was 130 or 135 lbs. when he entered the Pinellas County jail on October 30, 2009 at age 18.

Eleven months later, he weighed 119 lbs., according to the reception center this past week.

Ted was receiving extra money in the jail - anywhere from $30 to $50 every week - to buy extra food (ie. snacks and Ramen noodles) from the commissary.

The reception center also listed his height at 5'8", when he is really 5'9" or 5'10" - depending on what record you're looking at. Teens stop growing [in inches of height] at 19 years old.

According to the standard weight and height chart, men should weigh the following:

Small frame Medium frame Large frame

5'8" - 140-148 - 145-157 - 152-172
5'9" - 142-151 - 148-160 - 155-176
5'10" - 144-154 - 151-163 - 158-180

Could budget cuts be having an even more drastic effect on the amount of food inmates are receiving? Inmates always have complained of hunger, but are they now been starved? What is happening to those that don't have the money to buy extra food?

Jail food

When you first come to jail, the worst part about it (besides being here) is the hunger.

A lot of people don't have money - or people to give them money - so that means they can't eat commissary food.

Sure, the jail feeds you, but if you only eat the meals the jail feeds you, you'll be left still hungry.

It sucks not being able to eat what you want, when you want.

The food you get for each meal is never any good - sometimes it's unrecognizable - and also the amount you get is a joke.

I'm a small person (119 lbs.) and if I could eat four trays of this food, imagine how hungry someone who's bigger than me feels.

The meals here only are enough to keep me from coming back! That's not even mentioning all the other reasons - which I won't get into - because I'm sure you've got some kind of plans for the next week!

What passes for food here

I mentioned before that breakfast here is served at 3:30 or 4 a.m. Lunch is served at 10 a.m. and dinner is at 4 p.m.

I didn't yet go into detail about the food, but most of it is unidentifiable. Even after eating it, I'm hungry all the time and use the money my parents put in my commissary account to buy more food, such as Ramen noodles, canned meat and coffee. I mix the Ramen noodles and canned meat together to eat.

The trays we eat off of are big and bulky. They're made from plastic and are about 3" thick.

Some items we get for breakfast:

- meat and potatoes
- grits and powdered eggs
- cornflakes and a peanut butter sandwich

We get a teeny juice and milk with breakfast.

Some of the thing we get for lunch or dinner:

- meat patty and potatoes
- mac n' cheese and a hot dog
- balony sandwich and noodles

For dessert we get a scoop of rice pudding, a chocolate chip cookie or dry cake. We used to get bread pudding, but haven't gotten that in over a month.

We also get a small cup of juice.

On Thanksgiving we got turkey, something that resembled stuffing and jello. That's better than the juvenile detention center at the Pinellas County Jail though. The year I was there for Thanksgiving, we got a baloney sandwich for our holiday meal.

More than one person (including someone that had worked in the kitchen) has told me that the juice in our cups is poured from big bottles that have a skull and crossbones on the bottle. There's a warning on the bottle that says that long-term drinking of it is poison. Who knows if this is really true?

I know one inmate who was a large person when he came to the jail, but lost over 200 lbs. after being here a year and a half.