First Step to Second Chances Guide
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FIRST STEP TO SECOND CHANCES A guide for people leaving federal prison under the First Step Act FIRST STEP TO SECOND CHANCES A guide for people leaving federal prison under the First Step Act Copyright © July 2019 by #cut50 (an initiative of The Dream Corps) and Root & Rebound Published by #cut50 and Root & Rebound Made possible by the generous support of The Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation About the Authors Root & Rebound and #cut50 partnered to create this guide. About #cut50 #cut50, an initiative of The Dream Corps, is a national bipartisan effort to reduce the number of people in our prisons and jails while making our communities safer. Through campaigns led by people directly impacted by the justice system, we work with bipartisan coalitions and unlikely allies – formerly and currently incarcerated individuals, community members, crime survivors, local elected officials, and law enforcement – to achieve targeted and comprehensive reforms at all levels of the criminal justice system. By recognizing the humanity of those impacted, we can change laws in order to create safer streets and more peaceful neighborhoods. About Root & Rebound Root & Rebound is a national nonprofit that transfers power and information from the policy and legal communities to the people most impacted by our criminal justice system through public education, direct legal services, and policy advocacy, so that the law serves, rather than harms, low-income communities and communities of color in the U.S. We have a vision of a world where people impacted by mass criminalization have full restoration of their rights, so that they can move forward with hope, dignity, and opportunity. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the dedicated teams of Root & Rebound and #cut50 for their work to create this guide and support people coming home under the First Step Act. Thank you to the Root & Rebound Team including staff members Katherine Katcher, Chloe Noonan and Sonja Tonnesen; contract writers Wayne Boatwright and Nicole Harris; and volunteers Jubilee Cheung, Teddy Hill-Weld, and Juliet Tochterman. Thank you to the #cut50 team including staff members Jessica Jackson, Alex Gudich, Erin Haney, Sandhya Kripalani, and Olivia McLarnan; and to the #cut50 Empathy Network of volunteers across the country. We are grateful for the generous support of The Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation and The Deason Foundation, without which the creation of this guide would not be possible. Page 1 of 163 DISCLAIMER YOUR RESPONSIBILITY WHEN USING THIS GUIDE: When putting together this guide, #cut50 and Root & Rebound did our best to give you useful and accurate information. However, the laws change frequently and have different interpretations. We do not have the resources to make changes to this informational material every time the law changes. If you use information from this guide, it is your responsibility to make sure that the law has not changed and applies to your particular situation. If you are incarcerated, most of the materials you need should be available in your institution’s law library. The guide is not intending to give legal advice, but rather general legal information. No attorney-client relationship is created by using any information in this guide. You should always consult your own attorney if you need legal advice specific to your situation. What is the First Step to Second Chances guide? The First Step to Second Chances guide is a reference manual for people who are preparing for or who are in reentry from federal prison. It covers how to navigate the early days out, what your rights are with a record, and where to go for support and resources. Those who support people in reentry—from friends and family members to nonprofits and policymakers—may also find this guide helpful. This first edition was drafted quickly to make sure it was available to people coming home on July 19, 2019. A longer version of the guide will be released in late summer or early fall 2019. It will include a chapter summarizing the First Step Act, a chapter on navigating federal community supervision, as well as updates to the material contained in this edition. For access to the most updated resource directory and information, visit FirstStepAct.org. Why we created this guide. On December 21, 2018, the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) became federal law with broad bipartisan support. According to The New York Times, the FSA made “the most significant changes to the criminal justice system in a generation.”1 The FSA has already led to more than 1,000 people being released from federal prison, and over 2,000 people will become eligible for release in July 2019.2 #cut50 was integral to the passage of the FSA, leading a coalition of more than 70 organizations in support. Root & Rebound has built a reputation as an innovator in the field of reentry, offering plain-language resources and training with the goal of transferring power and information to the people most impacted by our criminal justice system. We partnered to create this guide because we recognize how hard it is to get high-quality information about how to navigate the early days out, what your rights are with a record, and where to go for support and resources. This guide is meant to be an answer to that. Who is this guide for? The First Step to Second Chances Guide is a reference manual for people who are getting out of federal prison. Family members, friends, service providers, government agencies, and others who support people in reentry may also find this guide helpful. You will learn about how to navigate the many steps in the reentry process, and how to find help to support you in the process! We’ll cover getting identification, voting and civic participation, transportation, housing, employment, finances, as well as healthcare and getting mental health support. You can skip around in the guide and choose to read the sections that you’d like to learn about. We are working to make this a comprehensive, accessible resource, and will release a longer version of the guide in late summer or early fall 2019. We will start by offering this Guide in hard copy and will work to create an online version in the coming months, so that the guide is available to everyone who wants to access it. 1 Trump Embraces a Path to Revise U.S. Sentencing and Prison Laws, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/us/politics/prison- sentencing-trump.html. 2 Letter dated June 7, 2019 from Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd to the Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Page 2 of 163 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 – PAGE 4 Basic Info on the First Step Act Chapter 2 – PAGE 6 Getting ID & Other Key Documents Chapter 3 – PAGE 47 Transportation Chapter 4 – PAGE 55 Housing Chapter 5 – PAGE 87 Employment Chapter 6 – PAGE 107 Finances Chapter 7 – PAGE 116 Health Care Chapter 8 – PAGE 131 Voting & Civic Participation Chapter 9 – PAGE 141 National Resource Directory (Find services near you!) Page 3 of 163 Chapter 1 Basic Info on the First Step Act Chapter 1 provides some very basic information on the First Step Act, the new federal law that inspired the creation of this Guide for people returning to their communities from federal prison. Our team plans to update this guide in 2019 to include many more details on the First Step Act and how it applies to people who are currently incarcerated and preparing for their reentry. WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP ACT (FSA)? The First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) became federal law with broad bipartisan support on December 21, 2018. According to The New York Times, the FSA made "the most significant changes to the criminal justice system in a generation." 3 These changes include fixing the way the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) calculates good time credits, making the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive and other sentencing reforms, and expanding the use of pre-release custody, among many others.4 The FSA has already led to the release of 1,023 people from federal prison. On July 19, 2019, as the changes to the way BOP calculates good time credits goes into effect, some 3,000 people are expected to be released. WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW FOR THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OUT OF PRISON? As you move into reentry, you’ll need to get a lot of life basics set up. These include things like finding a place to live, figuring out how to get around, looking for a job, going to the doctor, and more. WHAT IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DOING TO SUPPORT REENTRY FROM FEDERAL PRISON? As part of a holistic approach to putting the FSA into practice, the federal government has announced a number of special projects to support people who are reentering with basic needs: • The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) launched a new “Ready to Work Initiative.” According to BOP, this program is meant to help people “quickly secure employment.” As a part of the program, acting BOP Director Hugh Hurwitz noted that the BOP is building new partnerships with businesses across the country to provide employment opportunities to people getting out of prison. • The U.S. Department of Labor has given more than $2 million to 24 states to fund special bonds that provide insurance for companies that hire people with criminal records.5 • The U.S. Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows people in prison to get Pell Grants to take college or vocational courses and earn a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or certificate.6 • The Office of Personnel Management plans to make the website for the federal government’s job listings, USAjobs.gov, available to people in federal prison and upon release.7 • The Department of Energy created a new program to inform workers, including people who have been in prison, about jobs in the energy industry.8 3 Trump Embraces a Path to Revise U.S.