REENTRY BARRIERS
Systemic Gaps
Programs created for people leaving prison are often connected to parole, probation, or other criminal justice requirements.
An exoneree may have none of those things.
The very fact that they were innocent can leave them ineligible for services available to other people leaving prison.
Only 38 states and Washington D.C. have compensation statutes.
Some exonerees wait years for compensation. Some receive far less than matches the years stolen from them. Others receive nothing due to the sometimes onerous requirements.
Compensation isn't the same as immediate support. Rent is due now.
Human Cost
Years without earning. Years without saving. Years away from family.
A changed job market. New technology. Housing barriers.
A wrongful conviction can still appear on background checks - shutting people out of jobs and housing.
A nervous system stuck in the survival patterns required to stay alive in prison.
The trauma of losing your agency, identity, and freedom for something you didn't do.
And the enormous task of learning how to make choices again after years spent inside an institution that controlled your entire life.
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