Federal Prison Consulting
Sentencing is not the end of the decisions. Where someone is designated, whether they qualify for programmes that shorten time inside, how the family stays in contact, what happens on release — all of it is still open, and most of it is decided by people who will never explain the process to you.
What we actually do
Six things, and they cover most of what a family needs in the months around a federal sentence.
Facility placement
The Bureau of Prisons designates the facility, and the designation is driven by security classification points, medical and programme needs, and bed availability. Families frequently discover the placement after it is made and assume nothing could have been done. Often something could. We help you understand how the scoring works, what a judicial recommendation is worth, and what a placement request should actually say. Our page on security classification covers the mechanics; the consulting is about applying them to a specific case.
First Step Act credit review
FSA earned time credits are the difference between a projected release date and a real one, and they are calculated wrongly often enough that checking is worth the hour. Eligibility, earning rate, the 365-day application cap, and how credits interact with RDAP and good conduct time all matter. We walk through what a specific sentence should produce and where the computation may have gone wrong. See FSA eligibility and what to do when credits are miscalculated.
International treaty transfers
Non-citizens serving federal sentences may be eligible to transfer to their home country under a prisoner transfer treaty. The process is slow, poorly publicised, and requires consent from both governments and the prisoner. Families often do not know the option exists. We explain whether it applies, what the application involves, and what the realistic timeline looks like.
Self-surrender preparation
The weeks before a surrender date are when preparation actually helps: what to bring and what not to, how the first days work, what to say and to whom, and what the family should have arranged before the door closes. This is the part nobody writes down, and it is where lived experience matters more than research.
Money, communication and commissary
Getting funds onto someone\u2019s books, understanding phone and email allowances, visiting approval, and the practical logistics that determine whether a family stays connected. Small things that become enormous from inside. Our guides on sending money and visiting rights cover the basics.
Release and reentry planning
Halfway house placement, home confinement eligibility, supervised release conditions, and the practical work of restarting — identification, banking, employment, housing. Planning that starts before release goes considerably better than planning that starts after it. See halfway house placement and supervised release.
Who this is for
Defendants awaiting sentencing or surrender, people already designated whose families want to understand what happens next, and families of people currently serving who have questions nobody at the facility will answer plainly.
It is not for everyone. If the question is whether a conviction can be appealed or a sentence reduced through the courts, that is legal work and it needs a lawyer — see when you need a lawyer. We do not practise law, do not give legal advice, and will say so on the call if that is what you need.
Why us
Get My Days Back was founded by someone who served federal time. That is the whole credential, and in this field it is the one that matters. The rules on this site are not summarised from a manual — they are what actually happens, written by someone who watched them happen.
The free guidance on this site runs to dozens of pages covering sentence computation, FSA credits, RDAP, security classification, halfway house placement and supervised release. Read all of it without speaking to us. If after that you want someone to apply it to a specific case, that is what the consultation is for.
How the consultation works
It is free, it is a conversation rather than a sales call, and it lasts as long as it needs to. We ask what the situation is, what has already happened, and what you are trying to achieve. If we can help, we explain how and what it costs. If we cannot, we say that and point you somewhere useful.
We do not discuss pricing before understanding the case, because a treaty transfer and a commissary question are not the same piece of work and quoting a number without knowing which is which helps nobody.
Request a free consultation
Tell us the situation. We reply personally, usually the same day.
What we are not
We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. We do not file motions, represent anyone, or appear before a court. We do not have contacts inside the Bureau of Prisons who will move a designation as a favour, and anyone who tells you they do is selling something that does not exist.
What we offer is knowledge of how the system runs and how to work within it, from someone who has been through it. That is worth a great deal in the right circumstances and nothing at all in the wrong ones, and we will tell you which yours is.
Free guides on this site
- FSA time credits calculator — estimate facility time and prerelease custody
- First Step Act eligibility
- RDAP: the residential drug abuse programme
- Security classification and how points work
- Halfway house placement
- Sentence computation explained