Florida Faith-Based Juvenile Offender Program Seeks to Show the (Constitutional) Way
A University of Florida study reports on a faith-based prison program that tries to offer flexibility and diversity.
A pilot program in Florida believed to be the first in the nation for juvenile offenders has successfully avoided the separation of church and state controversies that have plagued some adult programs around the country and even shut down a prison fellowship in Iowa, said Jodi Lane, a UF criminologist who led the research.Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?
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Unlike many other programs in the country that are exclusively Christian, Florida’s participants can select from other religions, Lane said. If a youth is Islamic, for example, the people running the program will find a volunteer from that faith to serve as a mentor, she said.The other big constitutional issue — religious coercion — was not a concern here because the program was completely voluntary; interested juveniles and their parents signed a consent form agreeing to participate, she said.