The allocation of Economic Impact Payment’s didn’t initially include incarcerated citizens when it was alloted in 2020.

Understanding the despair facing many in prison especially, with the passage of the Cares Act, SawariMedia advocated for incarcerared men and women to have access to the same provisions as citizens on the outside

Why People in Prison SHOULD Receive Stimulus Money

Mailed from SCI-Houtzdale

NOW Impacted People Can Get Pandemic Stimulus Money

Once the CARES Act was passed to include incarcerated citizens, there were thousands of forms filled out by incarcerated citizens who record their expereinces in a range of ways:

Mailed from Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution

The majority of people in prison struggled with how to navigate the process of obtaining their EIP.

Mailed from Gus Harrison Correctional Facility

While people on the outside had the option of filing on paper or online freely, people in prison without outside connections only had the option of waiting for guidance from prison staff who did not prioritize this issue.

Mailed from SCI Fayette

People in prison do not have access to computers, or internet, making the free online and fastest option inaccessible. Only those people in priosn with a trusted outside contact who is able to fill out the online form on their behalf would have the opportunity to get access to EIP. Unfortunately, that did not include this mailer, and even those cases had the potential of falling through.

The reader below shares that he along with others missed out on their payments for similar reasons.

Mailed from Women’s Huron Vally Prison

Similarly, this person and many of his peers, was unable to locate their already issued payment due to loss of an outside contact.

Mailed from Gus Harrison CF

This poses a series of questions including:

1. Are a lack of trusted outside connection (relationships continually weakened by prison) a reason for denial of aid?
2. Is staff deprioritization of financial dispursment a reson for denial of aid?
3. Are the conditions of one’s temporary incarceration reason to disqualify citizens from critical aid?

Finally, does having a life sentence disqualify one from federal aid? The excerpt below shares struggles to find support from the federal department on his request, as a federal prisoner:

Mailed from United States Prison McCreary