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Staffing Issues Temporarily Close Century Work Camp; Inmates Moved To Main Prison
August 2, 2021
The Century Work Camp has been temporarily shut down due to staffing issues.
About 60 inmates have been moved from the Century CI Work Camp into the main unit at Century Correctional Institution, Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) Press Secretary Paul Walker told NorthEscambia.com.
“Staff recruitment and retention is a top agency priority,” Walker said.
Century Correctional Institution is one of several facilities across the state currently offering $1,000 hiring bonuses for newly certified correctional officers.
“Currently, a large number of FDC’s major institutions are at or below critical staffing levels. FDC is working through various measures to mitigate this staffing crisis, including the temporary suspension of some work squads. Work squads will resume when staffing levels allow them to operate while also adequately staffing the institution,” Walker said.
Some of the measures FDC is implementing to address critical staffing at institutions across the state include:
- Transitioning correctional institutions from 12-hour shifts to 8.5-hour shifts, as recommended by national experts and strongly supported through data analysis of safety trends and attrition rates
- Offering $1,000 hiring bonuses at institutions with 10% or more staff vacancy rate
- Offering $1,000 hiring bonus for returning certified staff
- Increased rate of pay to $33,500 for (noncertified) correctional officer trainees
- Opened positions for part-time OPS Certified Correctional Officers
- Reduced the wait time for Correctional Officer Trainees to enter the academy for certification
- Changed the framework of correctional officer academies to allow for mid-course entry
- Temporarily closing dorms
- Suspended FDC-supervised work squads
- Consolidating some work camps and annexes into main institutions
The Century Work Camp is located on Tedder Road, just west of Century Correctional Institution.
Pictured: The Florida Department of Corrections Century Work Camp. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
19 Responses to “Staffing Issues Temporarily Close Century Work Camp; Inmates Moved To Main Prison”
How about the courts quit sending people to prison for things that in Alabama or Georgia you would never get sent to prison. The whole system is screwed up. Not to mention it’s ALL about money. Needs to be privatized.
To All the Men and Women Employed by the Department of Corrections, All of those who are retired, and all the staff who are planning on retiring or quitting, I started my Career with DOC on 1991, when the Pay was $16k a year, the Female Officer had just Won the Class Action Suit against the Department for Women to receive the same pay as the Male Officer, We Was exposed to more violent attacks, Sexual Harassment, over looked for Promotion, and made to work position that gender Specific, all kinds of discriminating practices all within the Department of Correction. Now for this generation, some of the just don’t have what it takes to due that Job, so they Cry like like the man with the 9 year old son would be doing. My point is, the Department of Corrections new for 15 to 20 there was going to be a decline in staffing there institution. They fail to put together a ” Competitive Pay plans for its officer then and now. When our society change, and hardened Criminal was sentenced longer, the Pay should have automatically increased. And sense they didn’t implement a higher pay grade, most the generation X and the Millennials will not work for anyone, it has nothing to do with Pay, they are so use to having there way at home and on the job. When I was assigned has a Housing Officer for two (2) Open Bay dormitories, Complaining did get you anyplace, accept on 12 to 8 shift. And all the Millennials that’s Crying about the Pay, y’all wasn’t whining when you where as a C.O.T. Making the same amount of money Certified Officers where Making, and some of we trained you to be a good officer not a Cry Baby or Coward. I work at two major institutions here in Florida, Now what’s your excuse besides the money?
Tim Barberi….
Absolutely…..I make a good bit more than they are offering…so sad
Working for the Department of Corrections, whether as a civilian or an officer, is a tough job. The DOC is an imposing institution. That doesn’t mean they’re bad but it has to be run a certain way to function correctly. That’s not easy for the employees because most jobs can afford to give their employees more freedom and space at work, but prisons simply can’If you slip up even a little bit, like leaving your pool communication device unsupervised even for just a second, just to name one of endless responsibilities that must be handled perfectly every time, can pose a security risk.
Then there are the inmates. In my opinion, the majority of them are decent people paying for a bad mistake. However, some of them are really dangerous. If you don’t think being in close proximity with genuinely dangerous people is demanding work you’re simple wrong. It’s psychologically taxing and if you get complacent or lazy even briefly it’s dangerous.
It’s not an easy job. It’s often brought up that the security officers mistreat the inmates. I’m not saying this never happens but when stronger inmates attack a weaker inmate who do you think risks their life to break it up and protect the weaker inmate? The security officers.
@concernedcitizen… I am a retired Sargent… I retired back in 2016… One could take offence to “My 9 year old son could tell criminals to behave and threaten them with pepper spray.”… Obviously you have never been inside a prison or you’ve been there wearing blue… I’ve work with some of the best trained and some of the best Administrations the state has to offer… I have also gone toe to toe with some of the most violent criminals in the state… It’s not a job for just anyone… If you really think that all these brave men and women, that put there safety and well being at risk everyday, do nothing but tell criminals to behave and threat them with pepper spray, go walk through that gate, and then come back and then we will talk about it… I would recommend, the next time you come across an CO outside the prison, you say, THANK YOU. I pray for these people every day… Some are my friends, some I’ve know for well over 26 years and there was never any question who’s side they are on… Throwing money at a problem is what the state is good at… Maybe… All of this can be solved, if criminals would stop breaking the law… And…. Kids today…. Most of them…. Have ZERO work ethic… And let’s not forget that criminals are just poor misguided victims… It’s not their fault… AND… Law Enforcement are the bad guys… As far as Century goes…. Ya also need to look at when it was first opened… A large amount of the staff that was hired the first few years it was open are now either retired or fixing to retire… Thinking back…. A lot of this started when Rick Scott became our governor…. He attempted to privatize the an entire region and hand it over to some of his private prison buddies… Luckily our union stepped in a made sure it didn’t happen… That’s when DOC’s spanking began… Budgets were drastically cut… New rules on how we used our leave… Drastically cut staffing, training, building maintenance, the works… Did I mention no pay raises just about the entire time he was in office??? This is all being done by design… I believe, there is more going on that meets the eye…Believe it or not… When I first started… We had staff on top of staff… The state was actually shutting down some prisons… Things that make ya wonder….
They (FL lawmakers & DOC Secretary) care absolutely nothing about the staff. How dare they pretend to think they know what’s best for us or about the time we spend with our families. Let’s be real, it’s about MONEY! for them and their special interest. If they really cared, they would raise our salaries to compensate for the verbal abuse we’re subjected to on a daily basis, the physical fatigue we suffer from extended workdays and the mental stress of constantly being threatened for not staying over. Those are the main reason why they cant recriut & retain staff.
In response to concerned citizen:
If you think your nine year old could do the job then by all means volunteer him but I bet when those child molesters get their hands on him, you’ll thinl otherwise. You’re just another misinformed person who has no earthly clue what its like to work at a prison. You and every other citizen should be grateful for those who have the fortitude & courage to go in those gates day after day. Better yet, how about you come and see if you got what it takes to do the job.
One thousand dollars, Chump change for that sort of work.
A thankless job. As well as being treated poorly by inmates you are treated the same by your superior officers. Forced to stay when you are falling down tired. Threatened consistently about being written up. Worst job I ever had. I would never go back and my son just left. So glad he got out quickly.
Good. I hope they keep closing prisons until the pay law enforcement and corrections a competitive wage. I hope it drives up the crime rate and all these “defund the police” people eat their words and come crying back for police and prisons. Then, they need to demand they be paid a higher competitive wage.
Well, good luck with that problem…..
Going from 12s to 8s is a joke. It has changed noting. Making people stay over doing 16 hour shifts atleast 3 days a week! I’ve literally seen a whole shift have to stay over because it’s that short. People are getting burned out and over worked. It’s a joke.
Nobody wants to discuss the ACTUAL reason staff are leaving in droves. Between March of this year until now over 68 people quit. They would rather be extremely understaffed and put people in legitimate danger than to address the real issue.
It’s just not pay. About 40 people just quit because of the new scheduling of shifts that they have come up with.
The pay rate might be low,but the skill level to have this job is next to none. I respect these guys who want to work for low pay. If they wanted more pay then they would have to acquire a trade,skill,go to school. My 9 year old son could tell criminals to behave and threaten them with pepper spray.
Walk into a quad and get called every foul and vulgar name you can think of from men who are convicted pedophiles rapists and murderers , they will masturbate while staring at you waiting to see your response. Watch how they whine complain and smear fecal matter and throw urine all over officers and everything else because they feel they are entitled to treat people like garbage. They have no qualms over assaulting each other or officers. They get high constantly. They get dental and medical care. They get mental health care. They can assault someone then claim psychological emergency to avoid repercussion.They continue to commit crimes while locked up because the fine state of Florida allows them to have tablets and phone calls. All we are doing is enabling their depravity. Know that despite all this, we smile we give them everything they need to be comfortable and they never have to miss a meal or a nights sleep. You the taxpayer are supporting their chosen lifestyle. You foot their bills Yet we are the bad guys. Then add in an employer who doesnt upgrade necessary equipment to keep staff safe. We just want working radios and equitable pay.
The current year budget for the Department of Corrections is $2,838,075,754, or $2.84 BILLION dollars. Looking at the Adult Male Custody Operations Budget for Salaries, Benefits, and Overtime, total expenditures for 9,046 positions totals $528,432,872 or an average of $58,417/employee.
The hourly rate that they get paid to baby sit hardened criminals is a joke. They’re people in this prison serving life for being straight killers. They can fix the problem by dramatically increasing the hourly rate of pay. That’s on the State of Florida!
If the state really wanted to fix this problem with staffing all they need to do is pay a competitive wage