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kcomissiong · Oct 13, 2011, 10:42 AM

This is very long, so my apologies in advance.

My daughter's dad is serving time in federal prison. I (per the instructions of the BOP) emailed his facility and asked to got the information of his caseworker regarding child support pursuant to the program. This was in February '11. I followed up in March, and again in April, with a more angry email. An employee of the facility called almost immediately, and said that his case worker would be in contact shortly.

True to form, I got busy and forgot about this until a couple weeks ago when I realized that I had never heard anything back. I immediately fired off an angry email, including dates of contact, any replies I had received, and asked that it receive immediate attention, or I would forward a complaint to the BOP. About a week later, at 5:45 pm, I received a phone call from Mrs. Orange at the prison, and my ex, Mr. Pear was there with her. She wanted to know what I wanted. I went through the spiel with her about the program, and said that I know participation was voluntary, but that there are penalties for refusal. She then put the phone on speaker, and asked me to tell him what I just told her and to ask him if he would participate. He did agree to participate (release date is coming up, and he will lose good time for refusing). She then asked he what she should do, what happens next, and did I need to know how much he makes? I told her that she probably could not disclose that information to me, and that a copy of our support order was included in his pre-sentence report, which was available to her.

She then asked that I get in contact with her supervisor (believe me, I plan to) to let him know that we spoke and the matter was resolved and terminated the call. I was left shaking my head. I am so confused. She sounds like she has no idea what she is doing, and I am not sure that she knows how to move forward. Additionally, there is a standing protective order for him to not come within 500 feet of myself or my home, and to have no contact with me unless it was through my attorney and regarding our child. The order was also included in his pre-sentence report and it was completely inappropriate for her to put him in contact with me.

I am at a loss here. Is this usually handled in this manner. I have never dealt with this situation, so I don't know what my expectations should have been, and if her method of handling this was wrong, or against policy. Has anyone worked with the federal prison system regarding inmate financial responsibility? How should it be handled?

AK lawyer · Oct 13, 2011, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by kcomissiong

... I received a phone call from ___ at the prison, and my ex, Mr. ____ was there with her. She wanted to know what I wanted. I went through the spiel ... She then put the phone on speaker, and asked me to tell him what I just told her and to ask him if he would participate. He did agree to participate (release date is coming up, and he will lose good time for refusing). She then asked he what she should do, what happens next, and did I need to know how much he makes? I told her that she probably could not disclose that information to me, and that a copy of our support order was included in his pre-sentence report, which was available to her.
...
, there is a standing protective order ... it was completely inappropriate for her to put him in contact with me. ...?

It is probably not a good idea to use names here.

How do you feel it was inappropriate for her to put him on the phone? The order prohibits him to come within 500' of you. He didn't. Nor did he vountarily make contact with you. The prison made him do it. Frankly, I don't see what you problem is. It's not as though he would have been abusive toward you on the phone, particluarly with his counselor present.

If you didn't want to speak to him, you had ample opportunity to tell her that you didn't want to do so.

And why did you tell her not to disclose his information to you? If, as you suspect, she should not do so, that's her problem, not yours.

kcomissiong · Oct 14, 2011, 07:22 AM

I was having fruit salad. Orange and Pear and pseudonyms.

kcomissiong · Oct 14, 2011, 07:36 AM

There is certainly not a good relationship between us, but I believed at that point that she was violating his rights, and that it was truly information I should not have had available to me, and would not have benefited me in any way. I do not believe that it is appropriate for me to have to get on the phone with him and ask him if he will send money. That is what the court order and federal program are for, to set his obligation and ensure that he has an opportunity to meet it.

It's not as though he would have been abusive toward you on the phone, particularly with his counselor present.

He actually called me shortly after his arrest from jail, and verbally abused me until I hung up the phone. I don't know who was present at the time the call was made, but I don't have a great deal of faith in the prison system to change or control his behavior.

I asked all of this because I have no idea how this program is administered and if what happened is unusual. I feel that it has been handled poorly at best, but I don't have a basis for comparison. If you are familiar with the process, I'd appreciate any insight on what my expectations should be.

AK lawyer · Oct 14, 2011, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by kcomissiong

I was having fruit salad. Orange and Pear and pseudonyms.

Ah. Missed that for some reason. :o

AK lawyer · Oct 14, 2011, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by kcomissiong

...
I asked all of this because I have no idea how this program is administered and if what happened is unusual. ...If you are familiar with the process, i'd appreciate any insight ...

Sorry, I'm not.

Clearly Mrs. Orange wasn't either, and therefore had to figure out the process on the fly.

This doesn't seem to give Mrs. Orange any guidance regarding how she should have handled the phone call.

kcomissiong · Oct 14, 2011, 08:20 AM

From what I read, it looks as though a plan should have been developed in conjunction with the case manager after his initial classification, based on the financial obligations in the PSR. My only involvement should have been submitting a copy of the court order to the department of probation when they completed the PSR. That handbook may have been very beneficial to Mrs. Orange.