Philip Wilkerson

Florida Department of Corrections

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the third largest state prison system in the country with a budget of $2.4 billion, approximately 96,000 inmates incarcerated and nearly 166,000 offenders on active community supervision. FDC has 148 facilities statewide, including 50 major institutions, 17 annexes, seven private facilities (contracts for the private facilities are overseen by the Florida Department of Management Services), 35 work camps, three re-entry centers, two road prisons, one forestry camp, one boot camp, 13 FDC operated work release centers along with 19 more work release centers operated by various private vendors (FDC oversees these contracts). Over 80% of its staff of 21,948 employees are either certified correctional officers or probation officers. The average DC employee is 41 years old and has been with the agency for approximately nine years. The mission of the Florida Department of Corrections is to provide a continuum of services to meet the needs of those entrusted to our care, creating a safe and professional environment with the outcome of reduced victimization, safer communities and an emphasis on the premium of life. To that end, FDC provides dozens of academic, vocational and substance abuse programs to inmates and offenders, including in such areas as GED, adult basic education and mandatory literacy; printing and graphics, carpentry and digital design; and Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. In Fiscal Year 2015-16, 30,289 inmates were admitted into prisons and another 31,957 were released; while 83,176 offenders were placed on community supervision and another 84,919 were released from supervision. Given the fact that most of those who serve time in prison and on supervision will eventually be free, the Department is focusing on equipping its inmates and offenders with the tools they will need to become productive citizens.