If someone is incarcerated, is there any type of relief for their families? The bills still need to be paid, and that family has just lost a primary breadwinner for multiple years. Would insurance cover it? Are there other services available?
From what I understand, a lot of criminals can (and have to, food and such in prison isn’t free) work from prison, either doing various jobs FOR the prison, or if they have an e-business or something, running it from there, if they are the sole/primary moneymaker for the household and their family is that dependent on them. I think they can even leave prison grounds on occasion and commute if the prison has what’s called a “work release program” but I’m not sure how accurate any of this is, just what I’ve heard. (I’d assume certain money/business related crimes may waive this rule and disallow the prison from having them on an external business, and murder and such would probably prohibit the leaving prison grounds part)
How many of these people were actually making a positive contribution to the financial welfare of their family?
Odesio
When you work in the prison, regardless of whether you work in the maintenence of the prison or in some contracted work (the Federal Prison system touts its call centers as a domestic alternative to offshoring), most of your productivity is “returned to the state” to offset the costs of your incarceration, or any victim’s compensation included in your sentence. In practical terms, they pay almost nothing (about $1 an hour), but the state actually has NO Constitutional obligation to pay you for your work anything whatsoever.
A small proprotion of inmates qualify for work release programs, although they do exist. In 2005 (the last census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities) 2% of the total prison population was participating in a work release program (about 25,000 inmates). 28% of prisons offered a work-release program.
For the most part, having an incarcerated family member is a huge financial and emotional drain on a family unit.
The families would be able to apply for TANF (welfare), food stamps, public housing, Medicaid, etc. and be considered for eligibility based on the same criteria as other families in need.
As a general rule, you can’t insure against your own criminal misconduct, for reasons of public policy.
One of the few advantages of being in prison is you get free room and board. We do not charge prisoners for food. Or clothing or medical care or any of the other basic necessities of life.
Prisoners are required to work but the pay is minimal. You’re not going to support a family on it. Most prisoners are a drain on family income because they insist their families send them money so they can buy things.
There are work release programs but most prisoners do not participate in them.
As for the general rule of what happens to a prisoner’s family, it’s essentially the same thing that would happen to them if he got hit by a bus one day. There is no special aid program for families who have an imprisoned family member.
This site might have some information that would help you. It is Texas-specific, but its general ideas may be informative. I am well acquainted with two of this organization’s board members.
Speaking as someone with incarcerated family, the prisoner’s spouse and children get along financially as though they were seperated and no child support was being paid in our family. In fact, this is what they classify as for tax purposes. In our family’s case, the spouse and her parents have taken the financial responsibility for the children and his parents have taken most of the burden of the legal representation. He is not yet eligible for a prison job, so the extended family members tend to send him a $10 or $20 money order from time to time. The only public assistance recieved (aside from his three hots and a cot) is reduced school lunches for his kids.
I don’t know how typical our experience is of prisoners in general though.
What happens if they refuse?
This would be considered a prison strike, and while a prisoner is engaged in it all of those points he accumulated for good behavior that count for early release go right into the toilet.
With many of the “truth in sentencing” and “three strikes” laws in effect now, there is no more accumulation of time off for good behavior. They serve just as long for good behavior as for bad. They may lose privileges for not complying with the rules, but that’s usually it.
Thanks for the clarification.
I would think most people would prefer to work than to sit in a cell and stare at the walls. I have heard here in NC very few prisoners do not work ( at the level below maximum custody. )
Worse, likely. If someone gets hit by a bus, the estate and the family members may be able to collect life insurance or to sue the bus company for compensation.
In NY, it would technically be considered a refusal to obey an order. It’s not a strike or demonstration unless the prisoner tries to get other prisoners involved.
As Qadgop said, the usual outcome would be a loss of various privileges. (“If you don’t do your chores around the house, young man, there’ll be no TV watching for you.”) But NY does still have “good time” and this can be taken away in repeated cases.
The family also wouldn’t have their lost member asking them to send him a carton of cigarettes every week either.
Hah - very true! Of note: apparently if the prisoner had a life insurance policy before going into jail, s/he (or the relatives) can keep paying the premiums on that and it’s still in force. So if the guy meets an early demise while inside, at least that bit of family security is still in place. A friend of mine was in such a situation (husband jailed) and she looked into that as he had a policy, which she now maintains.
And yes, the family can apply for whatever sort of public assistance would be available to someone whose spouse suddenly died or otherwise disappeared; the same friend received foodstamps for a bit before she got back on her feet financially. IIRC, welfare payments would have also been available (though she did not take advantage of that). Having the spouse in prison might actually help with eligibility for those vs. having the spouse run off - less difficulty proving that the spouse wasn’t secretly helping out.
In most prisons (and even county jails) around here in CA, this is true, but not the way it sounds. Doing a year in the county jail (referred to as a ‘county year’) is eight months and eleven days.
In the prisons the time is closer to double or even triple time served towards the sentence. Thus doing a year in the pen could complete a three year sentence.
I can’t find a real cite, but I have a bit of personal knowledge from family and local law enforcement.