Phoenix House opens 85‑bed Orient Road wellness center aimed at easing jail reentry

The Public Safety Coordinating Council was updated on the opening of the Phoenix House Florida Orient Wellness Center, an 85‑bed residential level‑2 facility intended as a step‑down treatment option for people leaving jail. Robert Parkinson, a PSCC staff member, said a ribbon cutting is scheduled for Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. and that the program is licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families to provide substance‑use and co‑occurring mental‑health services.

Parkinson described the facility as a 90–120 day program that links participants to employment and housing services, with the goal of improving treatment completion and reducing the likelihood that people will return to jail. He said the project had been years in the making and that adjustments were required when certain HUD‑linked funding could not be used because of a fuel‑tank issue at the property; staff instead pursued alternate funding sources.

Colonel Robert Ura, speaking for the sheriff's office, urged close coordination among the clerk's office, public defender and judges to divert chronically arrested unhoused individuals into the program when appropriate, saying that competency‑hearing delays can leave people in jail for months. Parkinson and others praised Hillsborough County Health Care for stepping up support for specialty courts and related initiatives.

Parkinson also told the council that, two days earlier, "Washington canceled all of their SAMHSA grants for behavioral health and substance abuse services, about $2,000,000,000 in services across the country," and said county and health‑care actions had helped blunt local disruption; that statement was reported in the meeting and was not independently verified in the transcript.

The PSCC voiced support for coordination between law enforcement, judges and the provider to ensure clear referral pathways and to reduce confusion during the program's early months. Staff said they expect an initial rollout period during which roles and deployment sites will be clarified.