Last Day of Home Confinement

Of all my time in custody of the BOP, this last month went the fastest. I am suddenly on the cusp of my out date and the almost freedom that provides. I am so grateful that I've been allowed to spend this past month at home, surrounded by my loved ones. Even though my movements were limited, it was really a great month!

I was told yesterday that there is very little anyone can do for Hope. They no longer make the scooters, so parts are scarce. State Farm told me that they may need to "total" her. I guess I may be starting my almost freedom by purchasing a replacement scooter. I guess it's a time of new beginnings.

I also start work, well volunteering at my old job, this week on Thursday. I will be working about 20 hours per week doing both my old job and helping cover the work of a long term employee who recently had a stroke. They need me right now and I'm so happy to be able to be there, helping high school youth find their way to college. The youth specifically asked for me to do some diversity and acceptance exercises with them when they spend a week staying on campus. I did some of the exercises last year and they asked for me again. I have purpose!! When I used to run the summer camp I helped found, I did many of the same exercises with the teenage youth, and they always asked for it again the next year. I discovered that youth want a safe space to explore issues in an interactive, experiential way.

This leads me to where I am presently on my journey back into school. I have no definite inroad yet.  Today, I have a rescheduled meeting with a professor of a non-education based program. I'm always a little anxious telling my whole story, but I still tell all, as at this time I have to. I'm going to just spend some time with the serenity prayer before walking into the building.

While I haven't been as productive as I could have been these past several weeks, I feel as if I'm starting my almost freedom with some good possibilities in life. I also know that I need to keep my mind open to all possibilities that may be sent my way. There is good ahead for me, I just need to allow the journey to unfold.

I'm doing nothing particularly special to mark my last day of home confinement, but I am going out for a good dinner tomorrow night to celebrate my first day of almost freedom. That dinner will follow a 3-hour morning drive to go to/from my not a real HWH/RRC to pick up my end of custody paperwork (they couldn't give me it yesterday when I was there, only tomorrow), and my afternoon meeting with my probation officer (PO for now on). I've spoken to him once, but will meet him for the first time tomorrow. So my first day of almost freedom, won't feel so free at all. 

I'll think through some home confinement tips to share with you all and post them soon. I sincerely believe that we should be leaning on home confinement for non-violent offenders as a real answer to the prison overcrowdedness issue. Even if I had to wear a monitor, which I didn't, it would have been a much better option.

So, my last day of BOP custody. It had better be my last day EVER!! I know a lot of people violate probation/supervision, but I will walk a safe and narrow path. I have but one goal, full (not almost) freedom for the rest of my life.

Preparing Now for Life After

I've been told and read about the last part of our sentence. Many things could occur, and there are things we can do now to help prepare for the best scenario. Many people spend some time at a halfway house closer to their home and others actually get home confinement. This is before the end of their prison term- usually about 10% maximum. It is a way to transition us back into the community.

I have read that we should prepare an envelope with a copy of our birth certificate, drivers licenses, and social security card and leave it with someone we trust who will send it to us when it is requested. My guess is that these are the documents needed to obtain our job. I hope I will be allowed to return to school and work on campus. However, there are no federal halfway houses near where I live. The closest one is over an hour away, so I suppose I may have to do another job during that portion of my sentencing.

I was told that if we want home confinement instead of a hwh, as I do, we need to start the process with the prison immediately. This means knowing of an address where there is a landline where I will go for home confinement. I must be able to show a phone  that indicates there are no features, such as call forwarding, on the phone because it is prohibited.

For me, whether I get a hwh or go right into home confinement, I have three years of supervised release after prison. That may have some of those same rules. I'm very, very fortunate, though. My good friend (like family) Sporty, has decided to move from where I used to live to where I live now to help enable T.S. to have in-state tuition. In turn, we will once again be roommates and I will have a home to come "home" to. She has already agreed to all the requirements of the "phone line" and will be ready to talk with probation when they want to look at my release home. One of the best parts of this arrangement is that if I do have house arrest, I get to also get the companionship of my former dog that I raised with Sporty and T.S. who is certified as a therapy dog. Something tells me that I may need a lot of dog "therapy" after my months at Carswell.

Anyway, we are all doing a lot to prepare ourselves for going into our respective prisons, it is also very important to start preparing for our releases (no matter how long it may seem away).

The actual "therapy dog" referred to in this post.