If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in a tent with a mosquito.
- unknown |
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Formerly and Currently Incarcerated People
Are you ready to get a fair shake? We exist to support your successful transition! Fair Shake is like a reentry hardware store: we have tools, resources and information to support you as you build your new life, including bridges of trust with your family, employers, property managers and the community.
Remember, many of America’s most highly treasured stories are those involving redemption and pulling ourselves out of tough situations to create meaningful and fulfilling lives. This can be your story!
For those of you who are currently incarcerated and using Trulincs to send messages, you can sign up for our newsletter: [email protected].
Employment
Looking for information to help you find a job? Check out our Find A Job page!
If you’re getting ready to apply or interview, check out our Prepare For Work page!
Housing Search
Transitional Housing is supportive housing that helps fight the homeless problem in today’s society. Transitional housing is generally for a limited time period. Stays can be from two weeks to twenty four months. https://www.transitionalhousing.org/
They provide an online directory of shelters in cities where they found help for those needing shelter. https://www.shelterlist.com/
Low Income Housing: Find affordable rentals & housing options for low income families and individuals. https://www.lowincomehousing.us
Fair Shake Resource Directory
Find food, employ
ment training, free stuff, housing, health care, family support, and nearly 15,000 resources and 400 reentry publications and links in our FREE
Resource Directory!
2-1-1
A FREE national resource service available by phone or internet to help folks in need find resources they seek 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They list resources for food, shelter, employment, education, housing, mental and physical health, specific services for veterans, special needs and reentry, a safe path out of physical and/or emotional abuse. A service of United Way. www.211.org
Find Help
https://company.findhelp.com
America’s leading social care network, which features more than 300,000 human-verified programs that provide help to millions of people across the country.
New to Computers?
Need help with your computer skills? Learn
more about using your computer on our
Building Computer Skills page!
Keep your documents safe(ish) in the cloud!
Vital Documents
Social Security
Social Security Card
This is the ss-5 form.
https://www.socialsecurity.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf
social-security-card-form-ss-5.pdf
Write For Vital Records – All States
Certificates of Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm
DMV Request Outline:
There are many reasons you may wish to write to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to request relief. Perhaps you have very old parking tickets, or your license was suspended, et al. You may find some leniency from the DMV to help you drive again, especially to get to work. This form has been created by folks in the FCI Sandstone Career Resource Center and is meant to be used as a template or outline for you to use to create your own.
Tax FAQ’s from the IRS
Educate Yourself!
Need more math skills? Concerned
about your grammar? Looking to
pick up more knowledge or skills?
Visit our Educate Yourself! page.
Financial Aid
Federal Student Aid Information Center
P.O. Box 84
Washington, D.C. 20044
1-800-433-3243
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/
A NOTE ABOUT PELL GRANTS
From the US Dept. of Education: The Department intends to implement the legislative changes to allow eligible students in college-in-prison programs to access federal Pell Grants beginning on July 1, 2023. Federal Pell Grants are usually awarded only to undergraduate students
Education not found in school:
The School of Life explores unconventional education to assist people in the quest for a more fulfilled life.
Watch the introduction video here ->
Here are some topics we thought might interest you:
Self: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpckOvZZ_AZjD7WM2p9-6NBv
Relationships: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcEwc0qydf2jSszQFSht81E
Work + Capitalism: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpehnfQOa4c0E7j3GIj4qFEj
You can find more on the School of Life on the Educate Yourself page!
Fair Shake Ownership Manual
Our Reentry Ownership Manual is loaded with reentry information including tools and materials for building bridges of transformation and trust.
Individual Pages in the Packet
https://app.fairshake.net/reentry-resources/reentry-packet/
Fair Shake “Inside” Newsletter
Sign up at [email protected]
Looking for Books?
Check out our Free Books Programs page!
For Parents
It’s important to stay connected!
Children of Incarcerated Parents – Bill of Rights
Children of Incarcerated Parents’ Library
Biblioteca sobre niños de presos
Prison Parenting Programs – May 2016
Sesame Street: On Incarceration
Little Children, Big Challenges
Can you change your child support order?
State by State Guide Changing a Child Support Order
For Veterans
https://app.fairshake.net/veterans-page/
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
The veteran
s’ page was created to assist veterans who have been Incarcerated as well as their families. The programs and resources on this page can help reduce the pressures associated with reentry. Our hope is that you will find these resources helpful in providing relief as you face the challenges of finding and supporting an effective way of life after incarceration.Thank you for your service to our country.
The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) was established to meet the needs of veterans during their period of transition into civilian life by offering job-search assistance and related services. The guide books below were created specifically to support you by applying considerations from your service life to your job seeking. Check in with your local TAP program to find out about jobs that are available near you. To locate your local support office, click on this link: http://www.benefits.va.gov/vow/tap.asp
Personal Appraisal & Career Exploration
Improve Your Financial Outlook!
Check out the Money Management page!!
Get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company. Ensure that the information on all of your credit reports is correct and up to date!
Wherever you are on your financial journey, you can prepare yourself to make informed financial decisions with these resources.
www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/
InCharge offers a free credit counseling service that provides help with budgeting, solutions for becoming debt free and tips to successfully manage your money. The goal of credit counseling is to provide a solution that helps you achieve debt relief and get on a financially healthy path. The service can be done over the phone or online.
* Lower your interest rates
* Reduce monthly payments
* Credit scores are not a factor
* Eliminate fees and over-limit charges
* Stop harassing calls from debt collectors
* Consolidate credit bills into one monthly payment
* Build a realistic budget and financial plan you can follow
InCharge Debt Solutions
5750 Major Blvd, Suite 300
Orlando, FL 32819 https://www.incharge.org/
Become a Fair Shake Member!
- Personal Web Page
- Data Storage
- Save your Resources
- Tutorials
Become a Member, It’s FREE!
Mental and Physical Health
https://app.fairshake.net/swellness/
Physical Health Page (just getting started!)
HelpYourselfTherapy.com is a website that offers free, confidential, practical advice from a therapist. The Self-Therapy model is easy to understand and self-disclosure is never needed. Everything is completely confidential. Click on the link below to view the list of topics from the website.
Looking to get an Interstate Compact?
Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS)
https://www.interstatecompact.org/
According to the ICAOS website: “The Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision will guide the transfer of returning citizens in a manner that promotes effective supervision strategies consistent with public safety, accountability, and victims’ rights.”
Here are two documents that can help you get started:
Housing
We receive very little housing information, especially on a national scale. Recently, however, the two-part document came to us from a HUD representative. So began my attempt to connect you to HUD.
Two Part Reentry HUD Housing Request
Since HUD does not offer any documents (that I could find) of their locations (the book does not even offer office locations, only links and email addresses) please ask your people outside to investigate further.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.,
Washington, DC 20410
Telephone: (202) 708-1112
https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD
HUD Programs
- Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) Program
- HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) Program
- Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) at HUD
- Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) at Benefits.gov
- Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)
- Public Housing Programs
- Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program
- Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
Voting Rights
Voting rights vary from state to state. In two states, Maine and Vermont, incarcerated people can vote in prison. In all other states people in prison lose their voting rights all together. Voting rights are automatically reinstated at various times throughout the completion of the sentence. There are no longer any states with a lifetime voting ban!
According to The Sentencing Project: Felony disenfranchisement (the loss of voting and other civil rights) is an obstacle to participation in democratic life which is exacerbated by racial disparities in the criminal justice system (and creates) a disproportionate impact on communities of color.
To find out more, please visit The Sentencing Project:
https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/felony-disenfranchisement/
PREPARING FOR PAROLE?
You might want to consider the info in these
Parole Board Handbooks
Ohio Parole Board Handbook 2017
New Parole Board member (State, Federal, and Military) handbook
Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Conviction
Collateral consequences are legal and regulatory sanctions and restrictions that limit or prohibit people with criminal records from accessing employment, occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other opportunities.of a criminal conviction…. This state / national resource is now a project of the Council of State Governments.
Website: https://niccc.csgjusticecenter.org/
Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Authors Page
We’ve created this page to showcase literary accomplishments of the incarcerated and formerly Incarcerated authors. In support of these individuals and all successful transitions, we have vetted and recommended the books on our Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Authors page at: https://app.fairshake.net/incarcerated-and-formerly-incarcerated-authors-page/
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Bureau of Justice Statistics
2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014)