Freckles TIPS Presentation

I did not have pre-sentence or pre-incarceration supervision, but a lot of federal offenders do. Freckles was under supervision before her incarceration and had some idea what to expect post-incarceration because of it. I, on the other hand, pretty much was entirely free except for being asked to turn in my passport AFTER my academic trip to South Africa which occurred a couple weeks prior to my sentencing. 

Since she was on supervision after her indictment, Freckles received various "assessments" and programs. TIPS is one of them and here she shares that it is now coming full circle...

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From Freckles:

Well - I'm not sure how many of you attended a TIPS (Transition into the Prison System) workshop at your probation office before you were sentenced or self surrendered, but I did and it was the most useless 4 hours my husband and I spent in preparing me for my incarceration.  I've recently been asked by my PO to present at the next TIPS workshop. I know I can't change the world and make the workshop the best thing ever for these future federal inmates, but I'm hoping I can at least have them leave the room thinking they gained some valuable information from me.

I know all of our experiences are vastly different.  From being on pretrial, to sentencing and even through the self surrender process.  But the fact of the matter is that once you are inside those walls, there is so much information that I wish everyone could have access to and even when preparing for release how much the BOP does not do. 

I taught many classes while I was in the system - but I'm not sure totally how to prepare for this?  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Most of you have followed the blog or maybe even been incarcerated yourselves.  What would you want to hear/learn about?  

I know I won't be able to tell everyone everything they need to know - but I'm hoping to at least give them some valuable information that they can hold onto.  Unless you're a "frequent flyer" in the system - I'm hoping to see many faces as horrified as I was and even if for one minute I can give them some peace I'll be happy.  I do know one thing - there is no way to prepare for the "toll" it will take on your family. And until I was released I did not realize that my time away was much harder on my family than it was on me.  So even though we are caged in a system that makes us jump thru hoops, do back bends and flips when asked - we need to keep in mind our loved ones on the outside.  And bottom line - it's still all about our choices and our actions do have consequences long after we realize....

Wish me luck - and I'll post again in January after how everything went...