Parole is in transition. The folks in Sacramento would be the first ones to tell you this in case you didn’t read it in the newspapers. My parole agent(s) have been quick to point this out to me. But you’ll experience the confusion firsthand with your first visit or two to the local parole office.
Me, I paroled on June 11 and I’m currently working with my third agent. Yes, three in two months! I haven’t moved or changed my address once. I’m still in the same place. And No. 3 tells me not to get too comfortable because I’ll quite soon be meeting No. 4. Honest! Now that’s a sure recipe for confusion.
When you hit the streets upon paroling, a job will be primary on your radar, just as it was and still is for me. What you’re going to need are both an official state identification card or driver’s license, and a Social Security card. Can’t get a job without ‘em.
No longer can an employer hire you with just a printout from the Social Security office as in years past. Now you must have the actual card in hand. You can’t get the Social Security card without first having a driver’s license or an I.D. card.
A driver’s license will set you back $31, which you’ll have to pay in full. An identification card, on the other hand, will run you $25 and there are a number of ways by which you can get help paying for it. Your parole agent will give you a voucher for $19 simply for the asking, making your out-of-pocket cost $6. You can also get the same voucher from the local office of Health and Human Services (welfare office) or at one of several non-profit organizations such as Proteus or C-SET.
It takes about seven to ten days to get your I.D. card, and another three to six days for the Social Security card. The Social Security card is free – a bargain!
Again, the days when the handy computer printout would get you by are long in the past. A printout from the DMV will not get you a card at the Social Security office. Gotta have the actual I.D. card, with picture, in hand, in order to apply for your Social Security card. So plan on making the local DMV one of your very first stops.
Bus passes are at the discretion of your parole agent, but until such time as the state passes a budget, there are simply not many to be had.
It’s economics, folks, money! And there ain’t none for anyone these days, and especially for parolees. Not in a state that can’t even pass a budget on time.
I’ll continue to research and report on what few avenues still remain open to us, as well as any changes as they happen.
Build your parole plans around a determination to succeed. The limited opportunities that remain still exist for the most determined among us.
Nobody ever said that parole would be easy, but I’ve got two months down now, and 11 more to go until I reach my goal of an early release at 13 months. I’m gonna make it, this I do know, and you can, too.
