Freckles Prepares for FREEDOM!!!

I'm getting ready to enter my last week of home confinement and my last week under halfway house supervision. I release from BOP custody on Monday, March 30th - so I will be at the halfway house at midnight to sign my discharge paperwork and they will fax it over and by 12:05am I will be walking out a free woman. When I first got to the halfway house I couldn't imagine going there at midnight to do all of this - why not wait until the morning? Well, after 8 months of this, I will be there with bells and whistles on before the clock strikes midnight ready to go. Now you may get phone calls after you release, so don't be surprised. Vak got two days of phone calls (midnight and 7am ones) and also a call saying he needed to report or the Marshal's would be notified. So again, nothing can shock me anymore.

I have met with my PO 3 times already. She was the same PO I had on pretrial. She came down to the halfway house the first week I arrived to say "Hi" and see how I was doing. I went down to her office about two months ago and a few weeks ago she popped in. I'm glad that I have her - she has seen me at my worst during pretrial - an entitled, white collar criminal who doesn't deserve to go to prison with a huge attitude. To someone now who was greatly humbled and changed by her experience. She noted the difference and even gave me a hug and was glad to see me. But don't be alarmed if you haven't heard from your PO yet. There is another inmate preparing to release 10 days after me and hasn't even heard from her PO. So again, I don't think there is a specific procedure for them.

I have been emailed some forms to have ready for my PO - she is coming for a house visit on 4/1 to do what they call my "intake". One of the forms is the financial forms - unlike Dragonfly, my monthly restitution was not set by my judge during my sentencing so we now have to come up with that amount and it will start in May. There is another questionnaire that is a psychological behavior based 80 question rate from 1-5 - questions like "I do whatever it takes to get what I want",  "I have helped out friends and family with money that was obtained illegally", "I often have thoughts of hurting myself" - and on and on. Pretty interesting - and again, the one thing this experience has taught me is don't give them too much information - it can sink you. To me, the past is my past, so if I did help out friends with illegally obtained money, so be it - I'm basing it on who I am now or what I would do now which is none of the above including "thinking it's okay to break the law in certain circumstances" - because yes we've all done it - something as simple as jaywalking or speeding because we are late. Am I telling her that - heck no.

I had my last one on one with my caseworker at the HH. It's amazing how now my weekly "notes" in my case file are getting more detailed and much longer. I've had to sign a form stating if I applied or didn't apply for healthcare now that I'm leaving BOP custody. I've had to provide past phone bills that they have misplaced to verify my land line for home confinement. And a survey on how my experience at the HH was. Yes they will get their survey along with an attachment detailing out things they need to hear and a copy will go to the Regional CCM. I have paid my last subsistence, I do get paid again on Friday the 27th, but they will not see that since I'm done. Time does go fast - so I'm now getting ready for another chapter and enter the probation stage. But good news, of my 36 months my PO said likely I will release after 18 and it does not matter that I will still owe restitution it's based on you and your behaviors, so keep your nose clean and fly under the radar at all times - it all follows you out of prison and the halfway house.

-----Freckles
________

I pray that Freckles finds her initial time of freedom wonderful and serene!!! Congratulations Freckles!!! Keep up the good work!

I also hope my PO sees it fit to release me from my supervision after 12-18 months, as Freckles' PO is inclined to do for her. As you can read between Freckles' experiences and mine, there are so many differences just between our two. You can't base anything on someone else's experience. Just go about doing your best and hope for positive outcomes.