 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Budget a mixed bag in Pinellas
By CHRISTINA JEWETT
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- Walls will be raised today for houses in the Salvation Army Children's Village. Across town, a ribbon will be cut for the Family and Substance Abuse Service Center. After all their work, organizers were relieved to learn that both projects received funding in the state budget that will be signed today. "They're very good projects -- important projects that certainly are going to help very needy people in the community," said state Rep. Frank Farkas, R-St. Petersburg. The news was not so good for the Florida Center for Teachers, which is not expected to receive the $275,000 required to sustain a summer enrichment program for teachers. The Salvation Army Children's Village will receive $646,450 to fund a cluster of seven homes that will each house six children and two "parents" employed by the Salvation Army. The village will provide a traditional neighborhood for foster children who are not expected to achieve other placement. It will be a place designed to keep adoptive siblings together. The Salvation Army already put $5-million into the construction of the village, and is working to set up a $20-million endowment to gain independence from government funds within four years. Earlier this month Florida TaxWatch dubbed the program a "turkey," suggesting that it is not worthy of sought-after budget dollars. "We think this project is a classic example of government and private organizations working together for the welfare of the community," said Chuck Coles, development director for the Salvation Army of South Pinellas. The village is scheduled to open in mid-September. The money for the drug treatment and rehabilitation center at 1735 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. S is timely for Pinellas County. Since the county began holding drug court trials in January, the waiting list for beds in a rehabilitation center has lengthened to about 35 offenders. As a result, people are serving time beyond their sentences, waiting for beds to open up. The Family Substance Abuse Service Center will offer 75 beds by mid-July. Fanfare for the $1.1-million appropriation will highlight the grand opening ceremony today. Mayor Rick Baker and Police Chief Goliath Davis will be on hand for the celebration. "There's no question that we have a need for a residential treatment facility," said Pinellas/Pasco Circuit Judge Lauren Laughlin, who presides over the drug court. "It's really important that we have facilities all over the county to accommodate transportation needs." The drug court is designed to send non-violent offenders, mostly addicts charged with drug possession, to intensive treatment rather than prison. Emphasizing improvement rather than punishment will benefit drug users as well as taxpayers, Laughlin said. While it costs about $60 dollars a day to keep an offender in jail, the cost in a rehabilitation center is $42 a day. Watson Haynes, a Bridges of America official, said the center will function like a shopping mall, with Bridges of America serving as the anchor store. Bridges of America is a non-profit drug treatment provider. Other service providers rent space, offering services to people with AIDS, those who use drugs and children who have been abused. While the drug treatment facility was a winner on the state budget, the Florida Center for Teachers is expected to become a casualty of Gov. Jeb Bush's line-item veto power, missing out on $275,000, Farkas said. Since 1993, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus has been a springboard for five-day immersion programs in topics related to Florida history and diversity. Teachers from throughout the state have practiced tai chi, learned about Asian religions in Florida and canoed down the Hillsborough River to gain the perspective of a Florida author. The goal is to give teachers a getaway -- a chance to fall in love with learning again. The program is operated by the Florida Humanities Council. Before the governor made his cuts, a teacher wrote Bush, saying she was "enlightened, inspired and refreshed" by the experience. "After all, I now have new material to share with my students, and the desire to do just that," wrote Lee County teacher Elizabeth Frank. Foundations and corporations, including the St. Petersburg Times, provide grants to match the state funding. Without state dollars, director Susan Lockwood said she isn't sure whether the program will continue.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
