$4 Million Grant To Keep Young Black, Latino Adults Out Of Prison

TAMPA, FL — U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, announced a $4 million federal grant to the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope to help double the initiative of mentoring and tutoring young Black and Latino adults and keep them out of the prison system.

“We are a community that says we are here to help you do better on your pathway ahead,” Castor said. “The Tampa Bay Academy of Hope continues to expand and establish a track record of success thanks to our partnership and federal support that this year will provide a big boost in investment for its job skills development and support services offered for returning citizens.”

For more than five years, the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope has received similar annual grants of about $1.5 million. However, because of its proven track record of success, including a recidivism rate of less than 20 percent, this year, the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope received $4 million so that it can expand the number of returning residents it serves by more than double -- from 188 to 563. Its footprint will also expand from Hillsborough to include Pasco.

The Pathway Home grant is awarded under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Reentry Employment Opportunities to assist in the transition of young adults and youth offenders back to the workplace The Tampa Bay Academy of Hope was one of 20 recipients nationwide.

“We offer support to grow all the way around, but sustainable employment is the ultimate goal,” said Titania Lamb, executive director of Tampa Bay Academy of Hope, 7402 N. 56th St., Tampa.

While the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope works directly with youth in schools or young adults in prisons, during the pandemic, it has moved to online jobs training and live coaching to maintain its level of services and help ensure successful reentry.

While voting rights for ex-felons are still on hold in Florida even after a 2018 statewide ballot amendment on the issue passed, Lamb said she and her students have been active on it, even traveling to Tallahassee to advocate.

“It’s part of closing the chapter on their time served and truly making them part of our community,” Lamb said.

The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world and its prisons and jails are overwhelmingly filled with Blacks and Latinos. The paths to prison are many, but the starting points are often the school and foster care systems.

Students of color face harsher discipline and are more likely to be pushed out of school than whites.

Black and Latino students are twice as likely to not graduate high school as whites and 68 percent of all men in state and federal prison do not have a high school diploma.

The Tampa Bay Academy of Hope provides mentoring and tutoring programs to keep vulnerable youth in school and out of the prison pipeline and help them become productive and successful citizens.