# Opt-in status is the whole ballgame You earn nothing until you are opted in. No credits, no phone minutes, none of it. And the days you spend opted out do not come back when you fix the problem. ## The switch — What opt-in status is Opt-in status is a flag on your record that says you are participating. It is the switch on everything the First Step Act gives you. Credits, phone minutes, the housing incentive, all of it runs through that one flag. It starts when you finish the needs assessment surveys in TRULINCS (the inmate email/phone/money system, all monitored). That is the whole entry fee. Sit down at the kiosk, answer the surveys, and the meter starts. Do that early. There is no reward for waiting and there is a real cost, which is the rest of this page. ## The seven — Seven things that put you in opt-out 1. **Refusing the assessments in TRULINCS** Including the dyslexia screening and the trauma screening. To get back in, complete them. 2. **Refusing an assessment or screening a staff member runs in person** Same fix. Complete them. 3. **Declining a recommended program that matches an identified need** This one leaves a program decline code on your record. To get back in, the code has to be removed or changed, which means a conversation with your unit team (the staff who run your daily life). 4. **Refusing a required program** The two that come up constantly are the Financial Responsibility Program and Drug Education. Start the program and you are back in. 5. **A life sentence or a death sentence** There is no way back from this one. It is a status, not a decision. 6. **Disciplinary segregation in the SHU** Not administrative detention. Disciplinary segregation, meaning the DHO (the officer who hears serious write-ups) sanctioned you to it. Opt-in comes back automatically the day you come off that status. 7. **Leaving your designated institution for a full calendar day or more** A furlough (a rare temporary authorized absence), a writ, an escorted trip, an outside hospital stay. Opt-in comes back automatically when you get back. ## The cost — The days do not come back Here is the part that quietly costs people real time. **Days spent in opt-out are gone.** They are not reinstated when you fix the problem. Two months of refusing to sign up for Drug Education is two months of credits you never get back, even after you sign up. The meter does not rewind, it just starts again. That is the argument for handling a decline code the week it appears instead of the month it appears. Every week it sits there is a week off the back end of your sentence. ## The ones nobody chose — Two of these are not your decision Look at the last two on that list again, because they are different in kind from the first four. A stretch in the SHU (solitary) under disciplinary segregation stops the clock. So does a medical trip out to a hospital. So does a writ that pulls you back to court for somebody else's case. Nobody asked you, and there is nothing to appeal. Families should know this one, because it explains a release date that moved the wrong way for no reason anybody explained. A month at an outside hospital is a month of credits that did not accrue. The status comes back on its own when the person comes back. The paused days stay paused. ## Getting back — How you get back in Mechanical, and nobody has to forgive you for anything. Cheat sheet - **Complete the assessments** if that was the problem. - **Get the program decline code removed or changed** if you turned down a recommendation. - **Start the required program** if you refused FRP or Drug Education. - **Wait** if it was the SHU or a trip out. Those come back on their own. > **From the inside — The signup is not the hard part. Getting told is.** > > Nobody sat me down and explained any of this. The assessments show up as a thing to do on the kiosk, and if you are new and overwhelmed and the kiosk line is twelve deep, it is very easy to put off for a month. That month is not free. Ask your unit team, in writing, what your current status is and whether anything is sitting on your record. Keep the copy. > > — Eighteen months, men's low ## Check it — Ask what your status is Do not assume you are opted in because you are taking classes. Those are two different flags. Send your unit team a message asking for your current FSA status and whether any program decline code is on your record. Ask in writing, keep a copy of what you sent, and ask again if nothing comes back. That is the same advice as [everything else involving staff](https://federalprisondude.com/going-to-federal-prison/what-it-is-really-like/dealing-with-staff), and it applies harder here because the cost of being wrong accrues daily. ### [Earning and applying](https://federalprisondude.com/first-step-act/earning-and-applying-credits) This is the single most misunderstood thing about the First Step Act, and getting it wrong costs people months. You can earn credits at any risk level. You can only spend them at low or minimum. ## For your people — Hand the rest of this site to your family You will not be able to look things up once you're inside. They can, and this is where: [everything written for the one waiting](https://federalprisondude.com/federal-prison-for-families): a twelve-part guide to mail, visiting, money, and your release date, plus their own FAQ and checklist. Alongside it, a [guide to every facility](https://federalprisondude.com/resources/federal-prisons) with [email alerts when visiting stops](https://federalprisondude.com/insider-tools/facility-alerts/subscribe), the [support group directory](https://federalprisondude.com/resources/federal-prison-support-groups), calculators for your release math, and [free answers](https://federalprisondude.com/contact) when they have questions. Send them the link before you report, not after they can't reach you. **Need help with this? Just ask.** These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. **Answers are free** , and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer. [josh@federalprisondude.com](mailto:josh@federalprisondude.com?subject=First%20Step%20Act%20question) I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.