On July 1st, several major probation reforms took effect in Florida. The legislative vehicle, Senate Bill 752, was unanimously passed by both the Florida House and Senate. This bipartisan victory was a result of the Florida Safety Coalition’s work with a broad coalition that included people on probation, formerly incarcerated advocates, law enforcement leaders, and groups from both sides of the aisle.
FL has the fifth-largest probation population in the United States and approximately $212 million is spent annually on FL’s state supervision system. Even more money is spent to supervise people on the county level and incarcerated individuals when they don’t successfully complete supervision. But the true cost is much higher: fractured families, employers, and hurting communities all bear the impact of probation’s failures.
Through SB 752, REFORM and the Florida Safety Coalition have taken a major step towards improving outcomes and success rates for people on probation, safely shortening probation terms, and reducing the overall size of Florida’s probation system.
We project SB 752 will help exit more than 150,000 people from this broken system over the next five years. It will also give more than 34,000 years of life back to people and their families.
SB 752 creates a permanent infrastructure for remote reporting, which was pilot-tested in many areas during the pandemic. Remote reporting enables people on probation and their supervision officers to leverage technology and save transit time by connecting in ways that better support rehabilitative goals and successful reentry into society.
It also ensures that officers have more time to focus on the people in most need of their services. And it removes one of the most common barriers to steady, quality employment.
SB 752 rewards people who are taking steps to become a productive member of society by pursuing a GED, vocational certification, or academic degree with time off their term of probation or community control. People can earn 60 days off their term for each completed educational activity. This will help create better outcomes for individuals and their communities.
SB 752 encourages full-time employment, which benefits individuals, their families, and their communities. For every 6 months of paid employment in which a person works 30 hours a week, they can earn a month off their supervision term. This removes barriers to employment and helps build financial stability for people on probation.
To ensure as many people as possible benefit from this new law, the Florida Safety Coalition collaborated with REFORM and the Florida Police Benevolent Association to host a series of informational webinars from August to October 2022. Our goal was to bring together legislators, formerly incarcerated people, local advocates, and other unique speakers to talk about how SB 752 could benefit you, your loved ones, or members of your community.
All of our webinar sessions were recorded and posted to YouTube. You can watch the four recordings below:
