FEDERAL HELP FOR EX-OFFENDERS?
I used to think the recidivism rate was unreformed criminals continuing to break the laws. But, after really paying attention, I see that mostly people go back because society does not support their re-entry. I suppose the model the Federal people have been setting is the reason. BUT, a ray of hope: George Bush, in his 2004 effort to get re-elected, says he recognises this too, and has promised to do things differently this time. If he should win his second term [Author's note: God forbid], and if we hold him to that promise, we'll see the recidivism rate go way down. Then if we reform the parole/probation officers and rules, we might actually have fewer people living on the outskirts of society after prison. Now, that's when I'll feel safer. kaylee1@charter.net
"In the past, we have worked together to bring mentors to the children of prisoners, and provide treatment for the addicted, and help for the homeless. Tonight I ask you to consider another group of Americans in need of help. This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit more crimes and return to prison. So tonight, I propose a four-year, 300 million dollar Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups. America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life." ~George Bush, Jan. 2004
FEDERAL RESTRICTIONS - EFFECTS on EX-OFFENDERS
From: Bethany Li
To: Kay Lee
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 2:16 PM
Re: Federal Restrictions' Effects on EX-OFFENDERSWhen you get a chance to look over the fact sheet, I'd love to talk with you some more about finding stories of people who have been hurt because the restriction prevents certain legal aid attorneys from helping them.
Also, we are currently developing a website about this issue and our campaign to fix it, but it's not up yet so the below link is the best we have on our site. You will find information about our litigation challenging the private money restriction, public education efforts, and various op-eds that should give you a better understanding of how and why we are trying to convince members of Congress that this restriction hurts low-income individuals, including those who are incarcerated. http://www.brennancenter.org/programs/pov/dobbins/index.html
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, and talk to you soon!
BethanyFact Sheet: How the LSC "Private Money" Restriction Interferes with
Successful Reentry of Formerly Incarcerated PeopleThe LSC "private money" restriction interferes with successful offender reentry - In his most recent State of the Union speech, President Bush proposed a new Prison Re-entry Initiative and declared: "This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. . . . America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."
Unfortunately, this path has been obstructed by a federal appropriations restriction that prohibits nonprofit civil legal aid programs receiving federal funds through the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) from using their own private funds to help incarcerated people overcome serious and destabilizing civil legal problems. These problems can include the termination of child custody, visitation and parental rights; the loss of a family home; and ruined credit histories.
If the "private money" restriction was removed, civil legal aid lawyers would be able to use privately donated funds to help people in prison resolve these problems and plan for a successful reentry. This would increase the ability of formerly incarcerated people to reenter their communities with both their families and their finances intact. The following is just one example of how the private money restriction hurts these people and their families.
Parents Leaving Prison with Significant Debts - Reintegration into society can be extremely difficult for individuals who leave prison in debt. This is particularly true of parents who cannot meet their child support obligations while in prison. Civil legal aid lawyers could help parents in this situation by negotiating reasonable changes to child support agreements that would benefit both parents. Yet the private money restriction prohibits them from providing this assistance. As a result, many parents leave prison with massive debts and impaired credit histories, and face problems when applying for new credit or housing. This hurts both the parents reentering society and their children. [Not to mention the people who pay for it all. kl]
The solution - The federal government can fix the problems caused by the private money restriction by allowing independent LSC grantees to use their own private funds to provide a full range of legal assistance to low-income individuals and families, including incarcerated people. Congress could then advance the President's goal of helping individuals successfully reintegrate into their communities and obtain a second chance at a better life.
For more information, please contact the Brennon Center for Justice at:
(212) 998-6730
FINANCIAL AID - MYTH and FACT
I have received conflicting information pertaining to the following federal resources. New information claims that the information may not be accurate. I do not have enough time to do the research myself so I'm going to present both views as a comparison/myth/fact research project and hope you'll check the accuracy for yourself. Please share your results. As always, I thank my readers for their input. If you find anything to reinforce or dispute any of the information on this page, please contact me. kaylee1@charter.net
FINANCIAL AID FOR THE NEWLY RELEASED ~ MYTH?
Being in prison has the effect of causing emotional problems that qualify you for emotional disability. A physical problem will not qualify you for disability unless it is documented; however, an emotional problem will.
Most of us are concerned that the benefits and opportunities available to you before and/or after release from jail. What you must realize is that these benefits must be applied for. It will take some effort on your part but will work to ensure your success in staying out of jail or violating your parole and/or probation.
First, the basis of this information is the new Legislature Unemployment Insurance Benefits Act.
Begin by filling your Insurance Claim at the E.D.D.O. (Economic Development Department Office), which is usually located in the State Employment Office of the city where you live or will be paroled to.
Your claim will be processed upon filing. There is a waiting period of four (4) days after which you should start receiving checks in the amount of $52.00 to $59.00 per week.
Next, sign up for food stamps. There is usually a hotline, which will enable you to get approximately $80.00 worth right away. You now have a financial basis that will give you time to apply for aid such as Social Security Insurance (SSI).
SSI will give you $310.00 per month in addition to the State Employment Benefits. Added together this should give you a total of $535.00 monthly to sustain you while you adjust to returning to a normal civilian life.
What we are trying to do is show you a way to stay out of prison and avoid any pressures, or temptations that might cause you to return. The above are legal rights to which you are entitled.
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS ~~ MYTH?
Social Security is a form of insurance. It is necessary to understand the program, what is can do for you, and the doors it can open. Here are the two sections of Social Security: Basic and Disability.
First you should have worked for five yours of the past ten years prior to your incarceration, or your lifetime: under these terms you can qualify on your own merit. If you have not worked a sufficient length of time, then you may use your parents' Social Security Account. This will not affect their benefits, present or future.
Even if your parents are deceased you can still use their account (you should know the exact date of death or have a copy of the death certificate). All you need to qualify is the fact that you are emotionally and mentally disabled and are having problems achieving gainful employment. This constitutes 100% disability.
It will take some amount of time to file for these SSI benefits (approximately eight months with the possibility of denial at local and regional levels). Do not fret or give up!! They can pay you temporary benefits for three months and you can then file for one year's benefits and back payments for every month you were in prison.
You will receive one week of SSI benefits. SSI will not be paid to you while you are in jail, but upon your release. The difference is that you will be paid $310.00 from SSI but only quarterly (time spent while in prison) and thirty hours after being released. You may want to get better clarification on this.
Remember, the Social Security Office where you are returning to can have a check waiting for you up to $930.00. The first step is to write the office indicated at the end of this letter, and request an application for disability benefits. This should be done approximately ninety (90) days before release.
Remember that almost everyone has an emotional problem on being released back into society. You are probably no exception to the rule. It is your right.
Also, being on Social Security or SSI will qualify you for the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR) in your State Program. There are many conditional benefits such as Loan Guarantee Programs wherein they go to a bank with you and co-sign a loan for a possible Business venture, equipment, etc.
Your State (BVR) actually sends all bills to the Social Security Administration for their services to you, and they receive the check. It costs you nothing! Being disabled (a convicted felon) has many advantages and benefits if you know how to file for them.
Another source of help financially is the Small Business Administration (SBA). You can obtain information on the location of the nearest office from your State (BVR).
There is also an agency called Score working with the SBA that will assist you in setting up a business or profession. Generally the conditions of parole or probation state that you must have gainful employment, or a profession. Here Score can help ex-cons and Vietnam Vets. This is what they were established for.
If your trade, job, or profession needs a license or bonding (security), as a felon you have rights for gaining assistance. This does not relate to the area of employment you are seeking. Information on this can be obtained from you Health Education and Welfare (HEW) or Unemployment Office with assistance from your parole or probation officer upon your release.
FINANCIAL AID FOR NEWLY RELEASED ~~ MYTH?
From: "Branagan, Roberta" < Roberta.Branagan@state.nm.us >
To: <kaylee1@charter.net >
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 11:30 AM
Subject: Financial Aid...
I recently received a copy of a document which appears on the Angelfire web site. It is entitled "Financial Aid for the Newly Released." I am presuming that your link is the contact point for assorted information on prison-related issues. If this is not the case, please advise. Also, disregard the following if it does not pertain.
I have worked as a Corrections Educator (pre-release instructor) for some 13 years. During the first year of my employment, an inmate/student came to me with a document similar in content to the above-mentioned. In the course of fact-checking, I had occasion to speak with someone (CEGA is the name of the organization) who had been providing post-release information on housing, employment, etc., in the specific location to which an inmate was being released. She told me that the "financial aid" information had been floating around the penal system for at least ten years as far as she knew. This would add up to around 25 years at this point.
Unfortunately, wishful thinking seems to prevail--an inmate (not one of my students) asked me where he could go to "get that Social Security." He had been incarcerated for 17 years, was getting out in one week, and thought he was going to get something in the vicinity of $60,000 based on the version he had read which claimed he could get $310 for each month he'd spent in prison. She corroborated that the majority of the information is not correct.
Subsequently, one of my former students went to the local Social Security office claiming that I had presented this information as factual; I got a call and a letter from Social Security substantiating that the "financial aid" information is, in fact, distorted and/or completely false.
Apparently this "financial aid" beast has a life of its own--it keeps cropping up in different formats, the most artistic of which was in Prison Life Magazine. No matter how pretty the presentation, the information is still false.
If you want a rebuttal of the information, take a copy to your local Social Security office. If they say it's true, please let me know. If they debunk it, you might want to consider editing it out of the website.Please feel free to use the information--and I will be happy (when I have a bit of "spare" time) to provide you with debunks and any information I have concerning what IS available. I have put together some resource information for our Employment Development Plan program which seems to be credible.
Thanks for your interest and involvement in the ex-offender issue--it has been a never-ending source of frustration to me that programs that might actually help end up getting shut down or de-funded. In NM, we used to have "halfway" house programs, some of which lost credibility because they were being run by ex-offenders who were simply using the program for their own financial gain. And Diersen Charities (I personally think the "Charities" part is a misnomer) used to have a program in Las Cruces, NM which was legitimate--it was half & half Federal and State releasees--but, since they could get more money from the feds, they shut down the state component.
FACT OR MYTH? ~~ OTHER RESOURCES
Contact: County Commissioner's Office, ask for a copy of the
Bill of Rights #4190 Form: Unemployment for SSI (emotionally disabled convicts) #sScore: 1-800-634-0245
SBA Ombudsman: 1-888-734-3247
Office of the National OmbudsmanUS Small Business Administration
409 3rd Street SW MC2120
Washington, DC 20416-0005SSI: 1-800-772-1212
Social Security Administration
Office of Public Inquiries
6401 Security Blvd
Rom 4-C-5 Annex
Baltimore, MD 21235-6401