Do I get any financial assistance or “gate money” from parole when I first get out?

Yes, but it is very limited and for a very small amount. You are entitled to the money in your trust account and to gate money. You may be able to get other emergency funds by requesting them through your parole agent. Read more about trust accounts and gate money below.

(1) TRUST ACCOUNTS:

WHAT IS “INTEREST”?

Interest is a small percentage of your money that is held in your account. Periodically, interest gets added to your account, due to the fact that someone else (the prison) is holding your money.

Money that you brought to prison, earned in prison, or received in prison is kept in an interest-bearing trust account. The “interest” is paid to the trust account on a monthly basis, minus “operational expenses” (fees charged for operating the account). Any money in your trust account, including any interest earned, must be given to you at your release.[357]

(2) GATE MONEY (a.k.a. “RELEASE ALLOWANCE”):

YOU GET $200 GATE MONEY IF:

If you are leaving a California state prison and you are (1) paroled, (2) placed on post-release community supervision (PRCS), or (3) discharged from a CDCR institution or reentry facility, you are entitled to $200 in state funds upon release.[358] These funds are known as “gate money” or “release allowance.”

Even though your parole agent is responsible for giving you these funds, the agent is not required to give you the entire amount immediately. Instead, your parole agent may distribute the $200 in separate, smaller amounts over a period of 60 days following your release.[359] By the end of those 60 days, you should have received the entire $200. If you need to buy clothes or a bus ticket at the time of your release, you must pay for it; CDCR does not provide extra gate money for clothing or transportation. If you ask CDCR to help cover these costs, it will deduct the amount from your $200 gate money.[360]

BUT NOTE: If you were returned to prison or jail on a parole violation — and you were incarcerated for less than 6 months — you should receive $1.10 for each day you were held, up to a maximum of $200.[361]

IMPORTANT: You also have the right to the $200 gate money in the following cases:

!

    If you were sent to a local jail for civil commitment proceedings or evaluation as a “sexually violent predator” (SVP).[362]If you are a “lifer parolee” who returned to prison on a parole violation, and you are being re-released to parole.[363]If you served 6 straight months or more, either on a sentence OR on a return-to-custody for a parole violation (these 6 months could be time in jail or in prison).[364]If you do not receive your gate money in one of these situations (which is common), file an administrative appeal. Ask your jail or parole agent for the proper forms (see PG. 178 for a detailed discussion of the 602 appeals process).

YOU GET $100 GATE MONEY IF YOU RECEIVED A $100 ADVANCE:

If you are released from prison into a Community Correctional Reentry Facility[365] or Alternative Custody Program (ACP),[366] you may be given an advance of up to $100 of your gate money at that time.[367] Once you are released from the reentry facility or ACP, you may receive only what is left of the $200 — for most, this will be $100 that has not yet been given to you.[368]

YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR GATE MONEY IF YOU ARE RELEASED FROM PRISON INTO THE CUSTODY OF ANOTHER AGENCY THAT IS DETAINING YOU:

If you are released from a state prison into the custody of another state prison, a federal prison, or a county jail, you will not get gate money until you are released from that custody.[369] (This might happen if you face charges or have been convicted in another state or in the federal system.) Similarly, if you are released from prison into the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and are waiting for a deportation hearing date, you will not get gate money.[370]

YOU LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO GATE MONEY IN THE FOLLOWING SITUATION:

If you “abscond” from parole before receiving all of your gate money, you give up your right to the gate money. This means if you flee, go missing, fail to report to your parole agent, or fail to let your parole agent know where you are, you lose your right to the $200 gate money.[371] If you abscond from parole, you also risk: 1) getting your parole revoked and going back to prison; 2) being held on parole for a longer time period than originally required; 3) being forced to wear a GPS tracking advice while on parole (see PG. 161).

YOU HAVE NO LEGAL RIGHT TO GATE MONEY IN THE FOLLOWING SITUATION:

If you are released after being put in jail for parole revocation proceedings, you do not receive gate money upon release.[372]

  1. 357

    Cal. Penal Code § 2085; 15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3099. ↑

  2. 358

    The rules for gate money are in Cal. Penal Code § 2713.1, 15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d), and DOM §§ 74070.23, 74070.23.5, 81010.6.1, 81010.6.2. ↑

  3. 359

    Most people receive at least $50–$100 of their “gate money” immediately upon release from prison, and many receive the entire $200. 15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(8). See also Prison Law Office, The Parolee Rights Manual at 22, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/ParoleeManual,Aug2013.pdf (updated Aug. 2013). ↑

  4. 360

    The rules for gate money are in Cal. Penal Code § 2713.1, 15; Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d); and DOM §§ 74070.23, 74070.23.5, 81010.6.1, 81010.6.2. ↑

  5. 361

    See 15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(4). ↑

  6. 362

    Sabatasso v. Superior Court, 167 Cal. App. 4th 791 (2008) (holding contrary portion of 15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(2) invalid). ↑

  7. 363

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(4); see also Prison Law Office, The Parolee Rights Manual at 22, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/ParoleeManual,Aug2013.pdf (updated Aug. 2013) ↑

  8. 364

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d). ↑

  9. 365

    CDCR operates fourteen "reentry hubs" in California. Programs typically last up to four years, and include classes in Substance Abuse, Criminal Thinking, Anger Management, and Family Relationships. They are available to people who have been released from prison within the past four years, and are designed specifically "for inmates who have a moderate-to-high risk to reoffend, as assessed by the California Static Risk Assessment (CSRA), and who have an assessed criminogenic need, as identified by the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) and/or other assessment(s) identified by CDCR." CDCR, Fact Sheet: Reentry Hubs, http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/rehabilitation/docs/Factsheets/OS-IP-Factsheet-ReentryHubs-Mar2014.pdf. ↑

  10. 366

    Alternative Custody Program (ACP) means a voluntary program developed for female inmates whose current commitment offense is neither violent nor serious and whose prior or current commitment offense is not a registerable sex offense pursuant to PC section 1170.05 that allows eligible inmates committed to state prison to serve their sentence in the community in lieu of confinement in state prison. Provisions for ACP are located in Title 15, Division 3, Chapter 1, Article 6.8 starting with section 3078. 15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3000. ↑

  11. 367

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(8)(A). ↑

  12. 368

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(8)(B). ↑

  13. 369

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(1). ↑

  14. 370

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 3075.2(d)(2). ↑

  15. 371

    Cal. Penal Code § 2713.1; see also Prison Law Office, The Parolee Rights Manual at 22, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/ParoleeManual,Aug2013.pdf (updated Aug. 2013). ↑

  16. 372

    Cal. Penal Code § 2713.1; see also Prison Law Office, The Parolee Rights Manual at 22, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/ParoleeManual,Aug2013.pdf (updated Aug. 2013). ↑