Top 10 Grants For Convicted Felons
As anyone who has been through the country’s prison system for any amount of time and has been pronounced rehabilitated, turning your life around for good is not only hard, it seems virtually impossible. Many of the government assistant programs available to help impoverished individuals and families are denied to convicted felons, and many employers just will not hire them. Concerns are legitimate but for the former convicts who really are trying to make things better, the odds are stacked against them.
However there are certain federal grants for convicted felons available to help them get on the right path. Government grants for convicted felons are difficult to find unless you have someone point them out to you. These resources, though, are vital to help them not return to the lives of crime they came from.
1. Education grants: state government grants for convicted felons are specifically tailored for convicts being released from prison that want to pursue an education to elevate their position in life. Counselors in prison can guide the inmates toward the proper resources to apply for these grants such that they are ready to attend a higher institution of learning once they have left prison and are trying to reintegrate into society.
2. Business grants: federal grants for convicted felons who were either convicted of white collar crime or who want to start their own business and can’t get the funds to do so any other way. Grants.gov has more information on the restrictions for the applications of these particular kinds of grants.
3. Housing grants: Most felons reintegrating into society might live in a group home or “halfway house” until they can effectively establish sound employment and other living arrangements. It varies from state to state, but there are grants available to secure an apartment and help with moving expenses.
4. Job training grants: Special programs provided by the funds from government grants for convicted felons assist them in receiving job training so they can find employment and have clean references for jobs they apply for. If they choose to go this route rather than a college education, the jobs are usually lower end labor jobs like dishwashing or maintenance, but it still helps the ex-convict get a better footing back in the real world.
5. Treatment grants: Many ex-cons either had a drug problem going into prison or may have developed one in prison by buying it outside and having visitors sneak it in or trading for favors. This kind of grant pays the treatment facilities for their recovery plan and treatment services. It’s also for the inmates that have psychological health issues that need to be addressed.
6. Grants for minority inmates: Private sector groups and federal grants for convicted felons as well as non-profit charities also look to provide grant money to assist minorities escape the life of crime they may have grown up in and don’t know anything else. These grants help minority ex-convicts change the way they think about how to live and adapt to life without crime.
7. Grants for legal representation: Very few lawyers and public defenders work pro bono, but many of them will accept grant money to pay for legal representation for ex-cons. Since some ex-cons are on a short leash with the legal system, even something minor like a no-fault car accident can bring charges and a possible return to prison. The virtually free services they receive from these grants allows for them to be adequately defended without prejudice of their previous records.
8. Regional or local government grants for convicted felons might provide funding for transportation to college, appointments and job training or employment.
9. Federal grants for convicted felons who also happen to be veterans of former wars. This is a sad state of affairs when veterans can’t reintegrate into society after being in the service and away at war on foreign soil and end up in prison for any number of things. These grants give them the opportunity to heal from psychological battle scars and re-socialize rather than remain somewhat antisocial in behavior because of what happened to them.
10. Government grants for convicted felons who are also female: A small percentage of prison inmates in this country and elsewhere are female. They are there because of crimes of passion or violence, situations which might not have occurred had they not been in social or economic positions that caused them to make poor choices. These give them a new lease on life.
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