“The idea is that this kind of cash assistance can help make sure newly released people have money in their pockets for everyday needs, but it could also ‘build confidence among prosecutors and judiciary to say, ‘Yeah, we will release this person, now that we know they have services and money, we feel more comfortable making that release,” says Center for Employment Opportunities CEO Sam Schaeffer. ‘That to us is a really exciting idea, how cash assistance could really help accelerate the depopulation of prisons and jails.’
[At present] when someone is released from prison, they may get assistance when it comes to finding housing or figuring out transportation, but all the other expenses that come with reentering society—a cell phone so they can be reached for job interviews, or nice clothes for those interviews—are left to them.”