Yes, it's March 16th and Tom is still incarcerated at the halfway house.
It's hard to find the energy or the time to write this all down. And I've been spending so much time fighting against the bureaucracy that it leaves me with little time to do other things that aren't absolutely necessary.
Tom has been getting weekend passes since the week of Christmas, so that's a blessing. Looking forward to weekends is what gets me through the weeks. But for the rest of the week, I'm still running the farm by myself. Kidding season is looming and I have to decide if I should plant a garden. I feel like I should because of the uncertain economy. But, really? A garden for one person? Tom and I have been working on the weekends to prepare it, but I'm having second thoughts.
So what I really want to document is the Bureau of Prison's Administrative Remedy (AR) program. It's supposed to be a program that inmates use to resolve various issues. Our prison consultant prepared an Administrative Remedy for Tom and we submitted it back in December. I've read the AR policy numerous times so that I'll know what to do and we have tried to follow it as best we can. The problem is, the BOP doesn't follow it. They don't follow the timeline; they don't provide the forms we need; it's hard to figure out who the forms need to be submitted to; they find every little excuse and make up excuses to deny requests.
We submitted Tom's AR to request a review of his placement in a halfway house rather than being released to home confinement under the CARES Act guidelines. Tom is eligible on every point, the Warden at the prison approved his home confinement. But the Residential Reentry Management (RRM) office denied his home confinement. We have been unable to find out why they denied it and how they even have the authority to override the Warden's decision. They absolutely refuse to tell us anything.
The first step of the AR process is to try to resolve the issue "informally". Although, the AR policy says that halfway house inmates are exempt from this step, we did it anyway. We told the halfway house staff that Tom was supposed to be on home confinement and could they help us get this error corrected. They refused. Our prison consultant also sent letters on Tom's behalf to the Warden and sent those same letters to RRM and Regional Counsel, along with phone calls to those offices.
So the second step is to submit a form BP-9. They also call this form a BP-229. I don't know why they have two different numbers for the forms other than to create confusion. Tom was able to pick up a BP-229 from a box at the halfway house. He got the last one. As far as I know, they never replenished the supply of those forms. This form is supposed to be filled out and given to the case manager/counselor, which Tom did. But his case manager handed the form back to him a few days later and said they don't process ARs and he'd have to mail it to the RRM, which we did.
The following posts will contain the letters and documents that we've sent so far. It's too much to put it all into one post because it's months worth of pleadings.
Click here to see what the AR forms BP-229, BP-230, and BP-231 look like, except they are in triplicate (or quadruplet, I can't remember). The BP-229 is blue and the BP-230 is yellow. I haven't seen a 231 yet, so I don't know what color it is. Note that the forms are identical except for the sentence that tells you about submitting the next level of forms if you are not satisfied with the response you got.
Anyway, this request was sent to RRM in December along with a cover letter and the BP-229 form.
December 11, 2021
Juan Baltazar, Jr., Regional Director
South Central Regional Office
U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex
344 Marine Forces Drive
Grand Prairie, TX 75051
RE: Administrative Remedy
Dear Regional Director Baltazar:
My name is Thomas ______, and I’m a halfway house inmate at the _________________, in _____, Texas. Enclosed is an Administrative Remedy for your office’s review.
Please note that I initially filed this administrative remedy with my Case Manager at the halfway house. Upon receipt, my Case Manager advised that they do not process administrative remedies. Instead, I was instructed to file this initial administrative remedy with your office. If this is not the case, I would appreciate you forwarding this administrative remedy to the proper official.
In reviewing Program Statement 1330.18, Administrative Remedy Program, and 28 C.F.R. § 542.13(b), I see that it states:
“Inmates in CCCs are not required to attempt informal resolution. An informal resolution attempt is not required prior to submission to the regional or Central Office as provided for in § 542.14(d) of this part.”
With the above policy provision in mind, this administrative remedy is being filed directly with your office. Please also note that my Case Manager directed me to use the enclosed administrative remedy form for submission.
Thank you for your time and help with this matter.
Respectfully,
Attachment to BP-229
This administrative remedy seeks a review of my placement as a regular halfway house inmate. As discussed below, I believe I should have been released to CARES Act home confinement, not regular halfway house.
Please note my counsel discussed this matter with the South Central Regional Counsel on November 30, 2021. Regional counsel advised that I should submit this administrative remedy to correct the matters discussed below.
I. ISSUE BACKGROUND
On November 18, 2021, I was released to the ______________________________, Texas. At the time, I believed I was being released to home confinement under the CARES Act. Upon arrival, the halfway house director advised my family and me that I was not released under the CARES Act but per regular end-of-sentence halfway house.
At my arrival, both my family and I spoke with the halfway house director and case manager regarding this confusion. Both reviewed my Bureau release order and confirmed that I was a regular halfway house inmate, not a CARES Act home confinement inmate. Both also advised me that the release order was atypical.
While I was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, the Bureau appears to have awarded me 345 days of halfway house placement. This is an unusual amount of halfway house placement, particularly for an inmate who has served less than five months in custody.
While I am grateful for the expanded halfway house placement, I believe an error has been made, whereas I was erroneously placed in RRC custody instead of CARES Act home confinement.
II. RESIDENTIAL REENTRY CENTER REFERRAL PACKET HISTORY
What complicates this matter further is that the FCI Bastrop Warden approved me for CARES Act home confinement in August 2021. Unfortunately, my case manager submitted my CARES Act home confinement verification to the incorrect release jurisdiction, requiring resubmission.
I understand that my CARES Act home confinement referral was resubmitted in September 2021, at which point U.S. Probation completed my home inspection. Then, in early November 2021, I was placed in quarantine before my release.
III. POLICY APPLICATION
It appears three release modes were contemplated by my FCI Bastrop Camp case manager and RRM Dallas: regular halfway house, CARES Act home confinement, and Elderly Offender Pilot Program home confinement.
The legislative history of 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c)(1) is clear: inmates who do not have a significant need for reentry assistance are not to be kept in the halfway house longer than 6-months. The 12-month provision of the statute is for those inmates who have a significant need for reentry assistance, for which I am not one. This is what leads me to believe an error has occurred.
It does not appear I yet qualify under the Elderly Offender Home Confinement Pilot Program. While I fulfill most of the requirements, I have not yet served 2/3 of my sentence. As such, I believe my current RRC placement was not made under this provision.
The final provision is CARES Act home confinement, which my Warden approved in August 2021. I believe I fulfill the requirements for this placement. While my case manager states in § 12 of the RRC referral packet that I have only served 18.3 percent of my sentence, I believe this calculation is erroneous. When accounting for prorated good conduct time, I have served over 25 percent of my sentence, which is required for CARES Act home confinement when the inmate has 18 months or less remaining to serve.
IV. REQUESTED RESOLUTION
Considering the above discussion, I believe my case manager erroneously submitted me for regular halfway house placement instead of the indicated and approved CARES Act home confinement placement. With this in mind, I respectfully request a review of my halfway house placement to determine if I should have been placed on CARES Act home confinement. If so, I request that I be placed on CARES Act home confinement.
Go HERE to see next step in this process, the BOP's response to AR.
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