41 inmates graduate Re-Entry Leadership Academy, set to spread across Florida prisons

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. ( WMBB ) — A special graduation at the Walton Correctional Institution is the first of its kind for the state.

41 inmates completed the Re-entry Leadership Academy, aimed to better lives after incarceration.

“This program has been designed to help men build character and build better habits for everyday life,” re-entry coordinator Sgt. Case Pratt said.

The three-month program puts men through extensive therapy and faith-based classes on how to be a better leader.

The graduates will then be sent out to teach other inmates what they learned, and from the sound of it, the academy is working.

“Just because a person have a life sentence. It doesn’t mean you have to have a wasted life. Just because a person may have time to do, don’t mean you have to waste that time,” inmate graduate Eric Lyons said.

“I thought about my family, the victim’s family, but mostly I regretted the two lives that I took,” inmate graduate Michael Caruso said.

“I wish I had a time machine. I will take us back to that night when I still have my freedom and you still have your life,” inmate graduate Jimmy Chhem said.

“They have to go into a part of their mind they normally bury or sweep under the carpet and it starts becoming more about them and more about their family,” Pratt said.

41 inmates from 16 different facilities across the state graduated from the leadership academy on August 16.

The program is spearheaded in Walton County and staff says this program and the inmates will have a lasting impact across Florida.

“They’ll build their programs from the ground up. They’ll be a selected dorm that they create that program in and hopefully and still plenty of rules for habit training. But they will be teaching classes every day, Monday through Friday, character building classes, everything you can imagine,” Pratt said.

Some inmates family members and staff attended this ceremony behind bars. Stating that they are proud of the men’s willingness to change and contribute to society.

Pratt said a new list of inmates will be sent to Walton County for another round of training this year.

Re-entry programs like the leadership academy are fully funded by donations.

Learn more online.

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