18. RDAP and FSA

When preparing for federal sentencing, many people focus on the number of months the judge may impose. A comprehensive mitigation strategy should also consider what happens after sentencing and what opportunities may exist to prepare for an earlier transition into the community.

Two subjects deserve attention: the Residential Drug Abuse Program, known as RDAP, and the earned-time-credit provisions of the First Step Act.

They operate under different rules. Understanding both can help you ask better questions, prepare relevant records, and make informed decisions throughout the journey.

What Is RDAP?

RDAP is the Bureau of Prisons’ most intensive substance-use treatment program. Participants live in a treatment unit and work on the thoughts, behaviors, and circumstances associated with their substance use. The program includes treatment in prison and required community treatment, with follow-up services when applicable.

Admission requires a verifiable substance use disorder and the ability to complete the required components. BOP professionals evaluate eligibility, typically relying upon what the person said and what the probation officer recorded in the Presentence Investigation Report.

For eligible people convicted of nonviolent offenses, successful completion may result in up to one year of early release under federal law. The reduction is discretionary, and exclusions apply. Eligibility for treatment and eligibility for the early-release benefit are separate questions.

Our website offers a full, comprehensive course to help you understand RDAP.

Prepare an Accurate Record

If substance use, or alcoholism forms part of your history, discuss it with counsel before the presentence interview. Relevant medical records, treatment records, and other reliable information may help document that history.

Officials in the BOP will rely upon the PSR to determine whether you qualify for RDAP.

Ask counsel whether requesting a judicial recommendation for treatment would be appropriate. The Bureau of Prisons has discretion on whether to admit you into the program, but a judge’s recommendation may help.

What Does the First Step Act Provide?

The First Step Act is a federal law with several provisions, and our website includes many lessons to help you understand. For this introduction, the focus is its system of incentives for participating in approved programs and productive activities designed to reduce the risk of returning to crime.

The BOP assesses a person’s risks and needs and assigns appropriate programming. Eligible participants generally earn 10 days of time credits for every 30 days of successful participation. Those who meet the minimum- or low-risk requirements over two consecutive assessments can earn an additional five days, for a total of 15.

These credits are in addition to other potential credits, such as Statutory Good Time and RDAP credits. Together, they can support an earlier transfer to prerelease custody, such as a halfway house or home confinement, or an earlier start to supervised release. Early transfer to supervised release is limited to 12 months, but again, that would be in addition to other credits. Additional qualifying credits may support prerelease custody.

Home confinement and halfway-house placement remain forms of custody with conditions. They do not mean the same thing as a time cut.

Understand the Eligibility Rules

Not everyone qualifies for First Step Act time credits. Certain convictions make a person ineligible to earn them. Other requirements govern when earned credits can be applied, including risk assessments. A final immigration removal order bars their application.

RDAP has its own eligibility rules. A person may qualify for one benefit, both, or neither. First Step Act time credits also differ from good-conduct time.

Before relying on a projected release date, ask how each benefit applies to your circumstances. The maximum available benefit is not a promise about what you will receive.

Connect Preparation to Your Strategy

Begin learning before sentencing. We offer many lessons and courses on our website with hopes of helping members of our community get a full grasp on the relevance of developing a comprehensive mitigation plan that can advance them as candidates for the highest level of liberty, at the soonest possible time.

Consider these questions:

• Does my PSR support an RDAP evaluation?
• Could I qualify for RDAP’s early-release benefit?
• Does my conviction permit First Step Act time credits?
• What requirements govern earning and applying those credits?
• What can I do now to advance myself as a candidate for administrative relief once I get to prison?

I encourage people to build a strategy that extends through every stage. Learning about these opportunities can help you connect daily decisions with treatment, preparation, and the highest level of liberty available under the law.