The Department of Community Programs (DOCC) is responsible for a variety of in-custody and community-based offender programs. The Department's mission is to reduce crime and create safer communities through alternatives to incarceration that provide a comprehensive continuum of custodial and community-based programs, treatment and active supervision. Its members strive to provide offenders with the best opportunity for successful reentry into the community. The Department is divided into six Divisions: In-Custody Behavioral Services, Drug Court Treatment, Pretrial Services, County Probation, Day Reporting and Reentry and the Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC). The Department employs 200 staff, has an annual budget of $20 million, and oversees an active caseload of approximately 12,000 offenders each day. It is estimated that the services rendered by the Department save the County's taxpayers millions in incarceration costs annually.

Treatment Programs

Drug Court

Broward County's Drug Court is the third oldest drug court in the nation, created in 1991, and the Drug Court Treatment Division serves close to 800 clients daily. The Drug Court Treatment Division has two programs providing diversion from jail or prison for persons with substance related conditions. The original Pretrial Intervention Program was designed as an alternative to traditional incarceration for first time, non-violent criminal offenders who are charged with the purchase or possession of a controlled substance and/or other substance abuse related offense. The grant funded Diversionary Treatment Program (DTP) was designed to divert adjudicated felons with substance related conditions from returning to prison. Both programs are a minimum of one-year of treatment with the goal of breaking the cycle of addiction and criminal justice involvement by using a variety of individualized treatment services to restore the participant as a productive member of society.

Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC)

The Juvenile Assessment Center is the central receiving and intake facility for all arrested juveniles in Broward County. Youth brought to the Juvenile Assessment Center by law enforcement officers are fingerprinted, photographed and booked. In addition, youth receive assessments of their risk to the public, mental health and substance abuse disorders, and referral to court and community services. An intake process is completed on the youth as well as an initial mental health and substance abuse assessment (PACT). The detention screening instrument is also administered, if applicable, and if necessary the juvenile is referred to the BSO Juvenile Assessment Team for a more in-depth assessment. If the JAT determines additional services are needed, they will link the juvenile to existing community services through their case management component.

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Supervision Divisions

Reentry Division

The Reentry Division helps reintegrate persons 18 and over with a history of criminal justice involvement successfully back into the community following release from jail or prison. The Reentry Division also assists individuals 18 and over who are at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. BSO's Reentry Division combines the benefits of supervision with reentry to help manage the jail population, address public safety, and improve the mental and physical well-being of its participants.  The Division provides its clients with the support mechanisms needed to successfully reside in the community while at the same time monitoring their activity to prevent recidivism.

Pretrial Services

The Pretrial Services Division is designed to divert criminal defendants from pretrial incarceration. It provides complete, accurate and non-adversarial information to the judges of the 17th Judicial Circuit to improve the release/detention decision process in compliance with Florida Statutes and the Rules of Criminal Procedures. Additionally, the program supervises pretrial defendants in the community in partnership with law enforcement and outside agencies, ensuring that mandated conditions and court-ordered special requirements are satisfied.

Misdemeanor Probation Division

The Probation Division is charged with the duty of overseeing those defendants sentenced to misdemeanor probation for criminal offenses by the 17th Judicial Court in compliance with Florida Statues and the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Following sentencing by the Judge, the defendant is assigned a BSO probation specialist, who establishes a case management plan. The defendant reports at least monthly to the assigned specialist and must comply with the orders of the court. If the defendant complies with the orders within the time frame specified, his/her probation is successfully terminated and the case is closed. If, however, the defendant fails to comply with the orders within the time frame specified, their probation is violated, and generally, a warrant is issued for their arrest.

Employment Services Program

Operating under BSO's Reentry Division, the Employment Services Program is a joint relationship with local area businesses and organizations that works to reduce recidivism by helping individuals currently involved in BSO programming to obtain employment and become productive members of the community. 

Participants are assessed by a Community Job Development Coordinator to determine the participants' level of education and skills, their interests, their understanding of the principles of successful employment and their readiness. The process also identifies areas of need for the participant to obtain employment including a permanent address, social security number card, identification, work permits, access to transportation, etc.

Once a participant is ready, the program identifies potential employers and sends the participant for an interview with the employer.  In addition to referring participants to community partners for employment, the Reentry Division has established a relationship with Career Source Broward and Broward County to refer our participants to apprenticeship training programs.  These programs include masonry, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, HVAC, auto body repair, auto mechanic, bricklayer, pipe fitting, and welding.  Participants must qualify for one of the apprenticeship programs and must complete an application process.    

More information about BSO's Employment Services Program is available from the Department of Community Programs.

The Employment Services Program offers to following services:

•       Job interviewing techniques
•       Basis computer training
•       Resume writing
•       Career Assessments such as the Strong Interest Inventory and iStartStrong™ report.  Both the Strong and iStartStrong™ assist individuals with career direction and insight into options that align with their interests and abilities
•       Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (personality inventory). The instrument helps people gain insights about themselves and how they interact with others—and improve how they communicate, learn, and work.
•       The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI® assessment) for conflict resolution. The TKI® assessment helps people understand how different conflict-handling styles affect interpersonal and group dynamics—and it empowers them to choose the appropriate style for any situation

Once a participant is ready, the program identifies potential employers and sends the participant for an interview with the employer.

For more information regarding BSO's Employment Services Program, please call 954-831-5300 or 954-831-5316 (Fort Lauderdale location) or 954-375-6190 (Lauderdale Lakes location). 

Reentry Division

2926 State Road 7
Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33313

Community Programs Campus

5400 Powerline Road
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

Probation Division

Central Office

540 SE 3rd Ave 1st Floor
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

West Satellite Courthouse

100 N. Pine Island Road, Room 120
Plantation, FL 33324

North Satellite Courthouse

1600 W. Hillsboro Blvd. Room 220
Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

South Satellite Courthouse

3550 Hollywood Blvd. Room 240
Hollywood, FL 33021

Employment Services Program Enrollment Locations

Day Reporting and Reentry Division
954-375-6293/6190
2926 State Road 7 Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33313

Community Programs Campus
954-831-5300/5316/5320
5400 Powerline Road Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309