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Agency torn by neighbors' concerns
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD © St. Petersburg Times, published November 13, 2000 TAMPA -- When neighbors learned sex offenders were living on their block in Ybor Heights, the resulting controversy cast the agency housing those offenders, Tampa Crossroads, in an unaccustomed role: accused enemy of the people. "We are generally seen as part of the solution. We are infrequently seen as part of the problem," said Dan Kane, executive director of the non-profit agency which houses about 50 people in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. "We have literally produced hundreds of law-abiding citizens in our community out of folks who would be continuing the cycle of crime." Founded as a halfway house in 1977 by a Catholic nun, and currently offering everything from drug treatment to job training and counseling for primarily non-violent offenders, Tampa Crossroads has had 3,450 people pass through its doors. It gets referrals from judges and probation workers, case managers and families. It has contracts with the Department of Corrections and the Department of Children and Families. It gets funding from the United Way and from the counties where it operates. Tampa Crossroads isn't used to being seen as the bad guy. But in August, police notified area schools and day care centers that a registered sexual predator had moved in at Tampa Crossroads, the halfway house at 1606 E 29th Ave., next-door to a day care center. Neighbors soon learned that two other sex offenders lived there. Some say Tampa Crossroads betrayed their trust by not informing them when the offenders arrived last November. Some say they haven't felt quite at ease since. Some City Council members claim the house is improperly zoned, and have directed the city attorney's office to investigate how to tighten ordinances to prevent a similar situation in the future. Council member Bob Buckhorn calls the sex offenders a danger to the children nearby. He says he is committed to having them ousted, but he expressed general admiration for the work of Tampa Crossroads. "They serve a very vital purpose. We have to find a way to rehabilitate prisoners and to ease their transition into society," Buckhorn said. In tightening the city code, he added, "You've got to be careful as you proceed, because you don't want to force the eviction of good social services providers." The agency started in 1977 when Sister Rose Christina Momm, a Tampa nun who had been corresponding with prisoners, realized they had nowhere to go upon their release -- no job, no money, no skills -- and were in danger of running afoul of the law again. With $32,000 of donated and borrowed money, she bought the 17-room house in Hyde Park that served as the agency's first center. "There's got to be a house where people can go and be treated with some basic dignity, so they can start a new life," said Momm, now 64 years old and a chemistry teacher in Lakeland. She has no involvement in the day-to-day workings of the agency. She said she sympathizes with neighbors on E 29th, adding, "I think the term sexual predator is very scary." Still, she said, "Sometimes our sex offenders were the best residents we had. They seemed to be the most determined to change their lives." She confessed she doesn't have a solution. Next-door to a day-care provider might not be the best place for a halfway house with sex offenders, she said, but added: "They have to live somewhere, and they may end up living across from a day care with nobody driving by to check and see how they're doing." Kane said he has seen a cultural shift in recent decades that makes the agency's job harder. "The not-in-my-back-yard issue is much bigger than it was 20 years ago," Kane said. "There's a whole lot less tolerance for these programs. "The Tampa City Council is trying to make it even more difficult to locate any program like ours in the city," he added. "If they succeed in doing that, they're going to drive these folks back underground. I think it's shortsighted." Kane said the controversial Ybor Heights house is a small part of the agency's total operation. He thinks the city was misguided in ruling the house a "professional residential facility" -- the basis for the code violation -- since services such as urine testing and counseling are not performed there. While the agency hopes the city will reconsider its zoning ruling, Kane said he has no will for a long fight, and has already considered moving the offenders to other properties. "We can't solve the problem by shutting places like us down," Kane said. "If they don't get treatment, they're going to re-offend." According to the Department of Corrections, of the 24,317 people released from Florida prisons in 1999-2000, 1,966 came to Hillsborough and 1,351 to Pinellas. "We feel like the community's public safety is best served when we are helping these folks," Kane said.
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