I am a 49 year old female who has been sentenced to 18 months and I am to turn myself in on Monday, July 19th.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect and need help. How much time will I actually be doing? Also, I read that others petition for parole, is this something I would also have to do or is my sentence the 18 months and then I will have an automatic release date? Is is possible to do less time?

Once I am situated in prison, I hear that you have to go through a small period of time to be evaluated, and they determine what kind of work you will be doing at the prison, does everyone work in prison? I have no objections to this because I am sure that this is how times goes by faster but how do they determine what jobs you will be doing?

Last question, I have aboslutely no money and no means of anyone helping me out, as it is I possibly will be homeless when I get out - is anything given to you in prison, such as soap, toothpaste etc?

I have a really good job now, a house with a houseful of furniture and personal belongings that will probably be sold in the next few weeks but then I will have nothing. I am sure that no one wants to go to prison, but I truly believe that I would be much more productive being at home than prison.

Thanks to anyone who could help. I sincerely appreciate it.

Hi mevrb,
Well, I am not familiar with how things are handled with female inmates, but I cannot imagine that much is different in the way they process the men and women. Hopefully someone who is familiar with the women's prisons will come along and answer your more specific questions, but in the mean time I can also try to answer your questions based on my experience with my son's incarceration....

How much time will you do on an 18-month sentence? Well, if it’s your first offense, probably 50%. So if you were sentenced to 18 months, that would have you out in about 9 months!

In the men's cases (and probably the women's too) you first go to what is called "reception" where they screen you to decide where/how you spend your time.
In my son's case, they asked if he had a HS diploma. He was told that if he did not, he would go to school to get a GED. If he already did, he would work. We scrambled to get his high school records sent in so he could work. That may be different in the women's prison, I don’t know.
My son did not get a job until he mainlined. The first job he got was cutting the grass, and later he worked in the kitchen. They just assign any job they can plug you into, not anything necessarily based on your experience or expertise, at least not in the men's prisons. They have more people than jobs from what I understand. In the men's prisons, kitchen is the most desired job because you can get extra food.

In reception, they will give you an "out date." You won't need to apply for parole, as you will be released on this out date provided you earn your good time credits (the 50%) and don't get in any trouble and lose your good time for it. Petitioning parole is for those folks who are doing long sentences, but eligible for parole after a certain portion of their sentence is served. That is not the case for you. You are stuck with an 18 month sentence and will serve at least half of it.
There are some new programs coming up that might benefit you by sending you to a halfway house a few months before your out date, such as something called the "bridging program." CDC is way overcrowded, and so lots of new programs are going to be put in place soon to empty out the prisons. Whether they will apply to you I do not know...sorry. If it were me, I’d count on 9 months and consider anything that comes along to get you out earlier as a pure gift.

While in, the CDC provides my son with tooth powder -- not paste, which he says is gross, and with generic soap and the bare necessities, like a comb. You can buy real toothpaste and other stuff (food, toiletries, stationery) in canteen (the prison store) once a month, IF you have money on your account.

Can you have someone take the proceeds from the sale of your belongings and put them on your books? That way you can have some money for canteen. BUT, if you owe restitution, they are going to take 55% of whatever is put on your books.

Is there someone on the outside that can put that money in a trust account on the outside for you and send you stuff in Quarterly packages? You are allowed one package per quarter, ordered from an approved vendor, and not to exceed 30 pounds. You can at least get decent toothpaste and other goodies that way without the state getting half of your money.

I think if I was in your shoes, I would find someone to act in my behalf on the outside if possible. If that’s not at all possible, then I would go in with as much cash as possible to put on my books.
My son spends about $50/month in canteen, and I also send him a quarterly package, but he is a young man with a fast metabolism and a big appetite. You can probably get by with less.

I would also put some individual packages together for myself with writing materials and lots of stamps (used for barter) and get someone to mail them in to me, one a day, once I could give them my CDC number. I think you can send in one book of stamps in one envelope per day. The amount of writing materials that can be sent in depends on the prison, so I am not sure what that would be for you. But sending a tablet, some envelopes, and a pen, each in separate envelopes, would be reasonable.

Above all, when you get there, remember not to take favors. Nothing is free in prison, and you certainly do not want to become indebted to anyone. There are lots of scams you can get roped into so be careful and stay to yourself. I am sorry you are going through this. PM me before you go in if you are really, truly all alone, and have no one and I will try to keep in contact with you while you are in and see if I can be some support.
Good luck!!!