Federal Prison Handbook

Hi, my name is Chris Zookas. I'm the Managing Director of the Zookas Consulting Group, a federal prison consultancy specializing in prison preparation, resolution of in-prison matters, and reentry success. Today I'm here to talk to you about my Federal Prison Handbook. The Federal Prison Handbook, in the words of one of our former clients, uh, is the book that you wish you read when you were in county jail. By that, he meant that This is the manual to federal incarceration. Equally as helpful for first-time prisoners as well as those who've had some experience in federal prison, this book aims to cover it all. So this book fits into our consulting practice in a very distinct manner. So when we first consult with someone, when we counsel a, a client who will be spending time in federal prison and their family as well, We try to build an informational foundation from which the client can make good decisions. And really, the way that you build that informational foundation is by finding authoritative and reliable sources of information so the client can learn as much as possible before they ever set foot in a federal prison. This book follows in that vein. Starting the beginning chapters, we discuss the immediate needs. So what is it like being booked into a federal prison? What's it like going through receiving and discharge? What happens there? From there, we talk about, uh, so the experience on your first day in federal prison. So importantly, what's it like walking into the housing unit for the first time? How do you greet your cellmates? How do you introduce yourself and enter your new cell?, which is gonna be someone else's home and not make any missteps. You know, how do you start relationships off on the right grounds? Um, from there we discuss all the different areas of life in federal prison. So there are overviews of housing units, the chow hall, so where you eat, uh, the recreation yard and areas to be kind of cognizant of cuz the recreation yard tends to be where inmate businesses conducted, um, and other kinds of issues, uh, crop up. Uh, so these are, these are all the areas that you need to know, uh, for the more experienced convicts, along with those who are, it's their first time in federal prison. We have healthy discussions and policy-oriented discussions at that on health services. So how do you obtain healthcare? How do you obtain psychology or psychological care? Um, what are the moving parts? What are the sticking points? So what do you need to know? We cover all of that. Um, there's a very healthy chapter on the inmate discipline program. So that is, uh, that concerns the, uh, the, the disciplinary code in federal prison. So what you're not allowed to do if you get in trouble, uh, what you should do and what are the phases of it along with tips, um, hard-earned practice tips on the, the different hearings, what you should do, all the way through how do you appeal. I mean, these are important things that really you can't find elsewhere. You know, when I think of the Federal Prison Handbook, I don't think of a book about federal prison. This book started from a policy-oriented perspective, so for me it was vital to not just be presenting my opinions, or even my opinions based on my experiences, but to start with it, the the federal regulatory framework, um, delve into the actual program statements. Because when you look at federal regulations and you look at the Bureau of Prisons program statements— so those are the, the policy guides derived or created underneath the federal regulations— those are concrete pieces. Those are things that you can rely on. Those are documents, foundational guiding documents, that, I mean, while they are up to interpretation, are much more solid and reliable than necessarily one one person's opinion because everyone's experience is going to be different. So when I think of the Federal Prison Handbook, I think that this is the book that if you've never served time in a federal prison, or if you have served time and you have an issue, you need to read the book. This is it. Um, in terms of family members, family members, I mean, they serve the sentence with the inmate. I mean, it's true. I mean, they're really the silent victims of the federal prison system, because it's not the family that commits a crime, it's the defendant. And while they have to serve time in a federal prison, you know, it's best for them to be as informed as they can so they can avoid some of those missteps. I mean, obviously, to build a productive life behind bars, you know, in inmate speak or nomenclature, to not— don't let the time do you, do the time. And the way you do that is by understanding your surroundings, getting on solid footing, avoiding mistakes, and building a life. And for— so for family members who have a lot of these questions, who in my experience often don't want to ask their loved ones because they don't want to bring additional stressors to their lives, which is completely understandable. But this book can also help family members because it explains all the moving parts. And it helps them to kind of better understand and appreciate their loved one's situation. Um, again, the book is the Federal Prison Handbook. It is available for sale through our website prisonerresource.com. It is also available online through Amazon and other book retailers. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at info@prisonerresource.com. Again, that is info@prisonerresource.com. Our website prisonerresource.com also has a broad array of materials about federal prisons to include information about every federal prison. This is a great free resource, but also I strongly recommend if you're looking for the most in-depth information that you can find to date about life in federal prison and all the moving parts, again, the Federal Prison Handbook is, is really what you need to be looking at. All right, thank you very much. Bye.