Pre-Entry Need To Knows

Your Surrender Date will approach faster than you realize and there are many things that you will need to do prior to surrendering to make your life easier and less stressful. Taking a Pro-Active Approach will help guarantee that you will not hit any road blocks upon entry as well as assist you with your pre entry success. 

Before getting to your Surrender Date, I have provided several useful pages of information for you to review and take advantage of. The first is: https://usafirststep.com/items-to-take-with-you Use this page to prepare for entry. Be smart and take advantage of the advise given. The second page is the Password Prep page located here: https://usafirststep.com/password-check-list I make this recommendation based on my own experience of not remembering what my passwords to pretty much every sensitive area I needed once I was released. I couldn't even remember the password to my iPhone and Apple accounts. That naturally created major issues with access to my bank accounts, emails, etc. It was a headache and added quite a few days of unnecessary stress to my life. Again, being prepared for reentry includes taking the initiative today to be prepared.

Moving along, having a solid, down to earth and realistic Release Plan is key to taking advantage of being thoroughly prepared for a successful reentry and being permitted to use all the First Step Act Federal Time Credits you have earned. Your Release Plan needs to include Living Arrangements, Income Arrangements, Job Prospects, Medical Needs Arrangements, participation in Religious Activities, Mental Healthcare, etc. It must be realistic and down to earth. You must have a release plan to be released into Pre-Release Custody. It is better to have that plan finalized prior to your surrender date. You will have time while incarcerated to make revisions and edits as needed. But, Don't Wait.

Location, Location, Location: If you are reading this and preparing for surrender, you are no doubt on Pre-Trial release and will remain so until your surrender date. You will be contacted by either the US Marshals office or your Lawyer on where you are to surrender on your surrender date. The location you surrender to can be found here: https://www.bop.gov/locations/list.jsp; simply click onto the named location and do your research. Located on the BOPs Designated Location website are quite a few useful tools to help you prepare for entry. By scrolling down on the specific locations website, you can find useful data like the Admissions and Orientation (A&O Handbook) document, Commissary Lists, Mailing Address, etc. It will also have the phone number of the location for you to call to discuss "items to take with you". When contacting the facility prior to surrender, it is always best to ask for the Receiving and Discharge (R&D) office to discuss your questions on surrendering, and usually between the hours of 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM, Monday through Friday only. 

While you are on the BOP website, you might as well get familiar with the BOP Program Statements and Policies. Located here: https://www.bop.gov/PublicInfo/execute/policysearch?todo=query you will find every BOP Policy and Program Statement the BOP has issued and is a wealth of information. Do some research, you may learn quite a few things on how the BOP operates. Some useful Program Statements include 5380.08 Inmate Financial Responsibility Program, 5400.01 First Step Act Needs Assessment, 5220.01 First Step Act Incentives Program, and finally 5410.01 CN2 First Step Act of 2018-Time Credit: Procedures for Implementation of 18 USC § 3632(d)(4). Like I said, there is a wealth of information on the Program Statements and Policies pages, take advantage of the information!!!!!!

Surrendering into custody can place a financial hardship on a Loved Ones family. You will need to discuss with your family how much money you will need on a monthly basis to be placed onto your "books". Information on sending you money can be found in the A&O Handbook for your designated facility discussed earlier. You will also need to discuss any Inmate Financial Responsibility (FRP) obligations you have and make preparations for the BOP to start you on a repayment plan. More information of the FRP program can be found in the Program Statement 5380.08 document as well as the A&O Handbook for your designated location.

More to come.