By Helen Neal
October 14, 2025
Guest Columnist
I read with great interest the recent Herald-Tribune article detailing Sarasota County’s plans for a $400 million-plus jail expansion.
The conversation about cost-effective alternatives is a welcome one, but it misses a fundamental point: We are debating the size and cost of the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, rather than investing in a fence at the top of it. For decades, we have been stuck in a reactive cycle:
This is not a solution; it’s a costly repetition of failure.
This failure has a devastating impact on our children. The statistics from our county are a stark wake-up call: During the 2022-23 fiscal year alone, 683 children between the ages of 10 and 17 were arrested for felonies and misdemeanors.
The crisis is particularly acute for our Black youths – despite making up only 9% of the public-school population, they accounted for nearly 50% of these arrests. This issue hits close to home because the highest number of in-school arrests occurred at Booker Middle School.
I know this cycle intimately, not just as a resident of Newtown but as someone who has lived through the trauma that often leads to incarceration.
For years, I was trapped by my own past, caught in what I call ‘stinking thinking.’ My reality was shaped by abuse and pain, and it led me down a path of bad choices.
It wasn’t until I learned that we all have the power to choose our thoughts – that our circumstances don’t have to define our future – that I was able to break free. I realized that healing is not only possible, but it is the most powerful form of prevention there is.
This isn’t just my story. This is the story of countless individuals I have worked with right here in our community. I have seen people completely turn their lives around – not through punishment, but through understanding the innate health and wisdom that lies within each of us.
The seeds of this change must be planted early, and the youth I work with at the local shelter are a testament to the power of intervention.
One young person shared, ‘Ms. Helen helped me see that I don’t have to act on every thought that comes into my head, especially the ones I know will get me in trouble.’
These are not small victories; they are seismic shifts in perspective that alter the trajectory of a life.
This is why I have poured my heart into my work as part of the steering committee that is co-designing the Newtown Family Center. It is not just a building; it is the physical embodiment of a better choice.
It is a place where we can take care of our youth, provide parents with the necessary tools and offer trauma healing and prevention education before a crisis strikes.
Instead of spending millions on another jail expansion in 10 years, let’s direct a small percentage of those resources to build a foundation of well-being and resilience in our communities.
The choice before Sarasota County is clear. We can build bigger jails – or we can build stronger children.
Let us choose to invest in hope and healing, and in the future of our youth through vital community assets like the Newtown Family Center.
Let’s build a fence – not a bigger hospital at the bottom of the cliff.
Helen Neal is a Level 2 Trauma Specialist with SRQ Strong. She is a Newtown resident and a member of the Newtown Family Center Steering Committee. For details on the Newtown Family Center, email: info@newtownfamilycenter.org.
