Miami Gardens forum brings lawmakers, advocates together to reform life after prison
By Amelia Orjuela Da Silva | Miami Times
August 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM EDT
When Giovanni Sairras walked out of a Florida prison after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, he knew reentry was about more than just survival — it was about dignity. That vision led him to found Re-Entry One Inc., a grassroots nonprofit helping returning citizens rebuild their lives, in 2020.
Last week, the organization hosted “Pathways to Progress: Conversations for Change,” a community-driven forum advancing reentry, justice reform and second chances. Its centerpiece was a robust panel discussion that brought together lawmakers, grassroots leaders and returning citizens for a candid dialogue on obstacles and solutions.
“There's no community without unity,” said Sairras, executive director of Re-Entry One. “Everyone has to come to the table. We're all stakeholders. These returning citizens and reentry is just not a single issue. It affects the entire community.”
READ MORE: The sentences after sentencing: South Florida’s incarcerated students share their stories
A movement
Re-entry One began as a mobile pantry delivering food to returning citizens. It has since grown into a staffed nonprofit providing what Sairras calls “real solutions” for marginalized communities across South Florida.
In 2024, it served 259 participants and reached nearly 1,800 people through outreach. Initiatives connected 13 individuals to housing, 145 to health care, and distributed 65 reentry support packages through the JIST CARE Program. It also achieved a 100% graduation rate through Project R.I.S.E., a 12-week in-prison curriculum, and its inclusive entrepreneurship program.
“Here is the truth: the impact cannot continue without real backing,” Sairras urged, calling on state representatives to support and fund the organization’s work.
Legislative efforts
Florida lawmakers attended the event, underscoring policy changes needed to remove barriers.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones highlighted the importance of centering lived experiences.
Sen. Shevrin Jones said that policy must be crafted only after listening to returning citizens' experiences.(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
“The worst thing we can ever do is fight for individuals, but we have not sat down and heard their story,” he said. “It is not OK for us to welcome people without giving them the opportunities to match that welcome.”
State Rep. Dotie Joseph discussed HB 1521, her bill aimed at dismantling structural barriers, which died in committee.
“Re-entry is about moving with all of the barriers that are structurally put in place that make it difficult for people when they get out,” she said. “The way I see our job is to remove those structural barriers.”
Her bill proposed ending daily jail fees brought forth by Florida's "pay to stay" law, which allows the state to charge inmates $50 a day for their prison sentence, even years beyond their release. The legislation also sought to eliminate gerrymandering practices that count incarcerated people in districts where they cannot vote, and ensure minimum wages for prison labor.
Florida pays nothing for most prison labor. The only prison workers who do receive any compensation do so through the Florida prison system’s Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc. (PRIDE). About 2,500 prisoners annually work for Pride Industries, earning 20 to 95 cents per hour, producing $65.7 million in sales in 2022.
“If they're working, they should get paid. They can use that to take care of their families,” Joseph said. She urged colleagues to continue the fight in Tallahassee.
Education and training
The discussion also touched workforce opportunities after incarceration. State Rep. Kevin Chambliss pointed to HB 195/SB 472, which he sponsored and passed this year and which ensures career and technical education credits earned in prison count toward professional licensure after release.
Florida’s Correctional Education Program offers 92 vocational courses in high-demand trades. From 2020 to 2024, more than 36,000 career certificates were awarded, though until now, many were not recognized outside prison.
“What it does is give hope to our inmate and their family that the work is being paid, and that there is actually a path to a very productive future,” Chambliss said.
He pledged to expand educational opportunities behind bars.
“We want our returning citizens to be as career-ready as possible,” he said. “We want to make sure that they haven’t to double-think anything they do that would jeopardize their lives and the lives of themselves and their families.”
Derek Smith, a returning citizen released less than three months ago, stressed the need to expand work release programs, which allow inmates nearing the end of their sentences to work for pay and gain experience.
Smith said the current system doesn’t provide enough time for individuals to adjust to life after prison. Currently, only those with 14 months or less remaining qualify.
“Brothers are sitting behind the wall, getting discouraged about the opportunities because they get pushed to the gate where there’s not enough time within five or six months or 10 months to get actually settled and build muscle memory about being an employee, having a responsible job, and being responsible,” he said.
Chambliss committed to working with him to craft new legislation.
Returning citizens’ needs
When asked about the most pressing needs, Sairras named housing, followed by employment.
“We can get them a job, but if they don't know where they're going to lay their head at the end of the night, chances are they won't be focused on that employment,” he said.
Mental health care, hygiene and clothing are also vital. Sairras emphasized the need for counselors with lived experience who can connect with returning citizens.
Support systems—or the lack thereof—emerged as another critical theme. Florida State Organizer for the Reform Alliance Tanaine Jenkins noted that reentry support must start long before someone is released.
“You can't wait until we come home,” she said. “If I go into the hospital and I come home with no medicine, no physical therapy follow-up, and no doctor to follow up, what's the likelihood that I'll be cured? Same thing when people come home,” Jenkins said.
Probation
Panelists also addressed probation, which often traps people in cycles of technical violations. Sairras recalled a woman who was arrested over a single dollar shortfall in probation payments, after being part of a community engagement initiative with Re-Entry One the day before.
Re-Entry One has supported probation participants through its “Clean Streets, Clean Minds” program in Little Haiti, a weekly neighborhood beautification and food distribution effort. Working side by side with local leaders and law enforcement has also helped reshape perceptions.
“When our probation participants are involved in that way, we notice that there's a greater sense of integrity, of respect, and definitely of purpose,” Sairras said.
Through its Jail Diversion and Restoration Program, the nonprofit advocates for early probation termination for those who have completed their community service hours and have an extensive probationary sentence. They also provide letters of recommendation.
“We've gotten 25 people off of probation early or community control,” Sairras said. “If we can get them early terminated or we can get them to successfully complete their probation, then they're less likely to recidivate,” Sairras said.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, 22.5 percent of inmates are reincarcerated within three years.
“Once we go to court, we advocate for them. We haven't had one single individual recidivate from that court advocacy program,” Sairras added.
For him, reentry is personal.
“Because I have the lived experience, it kind of gives me a greater sense of unity with these guys,” he said. “I understand where they come from because I went through it myself. Every person returning home deserves to be met with dignity, opportunity and hope.”
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
Last week, the organization hosted “Pathways to Progress: Conversations for Change,” a community-driven forum advancing reentry, justice reform and second chances. Its centerpiece was a robust panel discussion that brought together lawmakers, grassroots leaders and returning citizens for a candid dialogue on obstacles and solutions.
“There's no community without unity,” said Sairras, executive director of Re-Entry One. “Everyone has to come to the table. We're all stakeholders. These returning citizens and reentry is just not a single issue. It affects the entire community.”
READ MORE: The sentences after sentencing: South Florida’s incarcerated students share their stories
A movement
Re-entry One began as a mobile pantry delivering food to returning citizens. It has since grown into a staffed nonprofit providing what Sairras calls “real solutions” for marginalized communities across South Florida.
In 2024, it served 259 participants and reached nearly 1,800 people through outreach. Initiatives connected 13 individuals to housing, 145 to health care, and distributed 65 reentry support packages through the JIST CARE Program. It also achieved a 100% graduation rate through Project R.I.S.E., a 12-week in-prison curriculum, and its inclusive entrepreneurship program.
“Here is the truth: the impact cannot continue without real backing,” Sairras urged, calling on state representatives to support and fund the organization’s work.
Legislative efforts
Florida lawmakers attended the event, underscoring policy changes needed to remove barriers.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones highlighted the importance of centering lived experiences.
Sen. Shevrin Jones said that policy must be crafted only after listening to returning citizens' experiences.(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)
“The worst thing we can ever do is fight for individuals, but we have not sat down and heard their story,” he said. “It is not OK for us to welcome people without giving them the opportunities to match that welcome.”
State Rep. Dotie Joseph discussed HB 1521, her bill aimed at dismantling structural barriers, which died in committee.
“Re-entry is about moving with all of the barriers that are structurally put in place that make it difficult for people when they get out,” she said. “The way I see our job is to remove those structural barriers.”
Her bill proposed ending daily jail fees brought forth by Florida's "pay to stay" law, which allows the state to charge inmates $50 a day for their prison sentence, even years beyond their release. The legislation also sought to eliminate gerrymandering practices that count incarcerated people in districts where they cannot vote, and ensure minimum wages for prison labor.
Florida pays nothing for most prison labor. The only prison workers who do receive any compensation do so through the Florida prison system’s Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc. (PRIDE). About 2,500 prisoners annually work for Pride Industries, earning 20 to 95 cents per hour, producing $65.7 million in sales in 2022.
“If they're working, they should get paid. They can use that to take care of their families,” Joseph said. She urged colleagues to continue the fight in Tallahassee.
Education and training
The discussion also touched workforce opportunities after incarceration. State Rep. Kevin Chambliss pointed to HB 195/SB 472, which he sponsored and passed this year and which ensures career and technical education credits earned in prison count toward professional licensure after release.
Florida’s Correctional Education Program offers 92 vocational courses in high-demand trades. From 2020 to 2024, more than 36,000 career certificates were awarded, though until now, many were not recognized outside prison.
“What it does is give hope to our inmate and their family that the work is being paid, and that there is actually a path to a very productive future,” Chambliss said.
He pledged to expand educational opportunities behind bars.
“We want our returning citizens to be as career-ready as possible,” he said. “We want to make sure that they haven’t to double-think anything they do that would jeopardize their lives and the lives of themselves and their families.”
Derek Smith, a returning citizen released less than three months ago, stressed the need to expand work release programs, which allow inmates nearing the end of their sentences to work for pay and gain experience.
Smith said the current system doesn’t provide enough time for individuals to adjust to life after prison. Currently, only those with 14 months or less remaining qualify.
“Brothers are sitting behind the wall, getting discouraged about the opportunities because they get pushed to the gate where there’s not enough time within five or six months or 10 months to get actually settled and build muscle memory about being an employee, having a responsible job, and being responsible,” he said.
Chambliss committed to working with him to craft new legislation.
Returning citizens’ needs
When asked about the most pressing needs, Sairras named housing, followed by employment.
“We can get them a job, but if they don't know where they're going to lay their head at the end of the night, chances are they won't be focused on that employment,” he said.
Mental health care, hygiene and clothing are also vital. Sairras emphasized the need for counselors with lived experience who can connect with returning citizens.
Support systems—or the lack thereof—emerged as another critical theme. Florida State Organizer for the Reform Alliance Tanaine Jenkins noted that reentry support must start long before someone is released.
“You can't wait until we come home,” she said. “If I go into the hospital and I come home with no medicine, no physical therapy follow-up, and no doctor to follow up, what's the likelihood that I'll be cured? Same thing when people come home,” Jenkins said.
Probation
Panelists also addressed probation, which often traps people in cycles of technical violations. Sairras recalled a woman who was arrested over a single dollar shortfall in probation payments, after being part of a community engagement initiative with Re-Entry One the day before.
Re-Entry One has supported probation participants through its “Clean Streets, Clean Minds” program in Little Haiti, a weekly neighborhood beautification and food distribution effort. Working side by side with local leaders and law enforcement has also helped reshape perceptions.
“When our probation participants are involved in that way, we notice that there's a greater sense of integrity, of respect, and definitely of purpose,” Sairras said.
Through its Jail Diversion and Restoration Program, the nonprofit advocates for early probation termination for those who have completed their community service hours and have an extensive probationary sentence. They also provide letters of recommendation.
“We've gotten 25 people off of probation early or community control,” Sairras said. “If we can get them early terminated or we can get them to successfully complete their probation, then they're less likely to recidivate,” Sairras said.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, 22.5 percent of inmates are reincarcerated within three years.
“Once we go to court, we advocate for them. We haven't had one single individual recidivate from that court advocacy program,” Sairras added.
For him, reentry is personal.
“Because I have the lived experience, it kind of gives me a greater sense of unity with these guys,” he said. “I understand where they come from because I went through it myself. Every person returning home deserves to be met with dignity, opportunity and hope.”
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.