Is there such a thing for an inmate? I think it is merely a point of view. I'm thankful that Lorne's parent provide financial support to him in the form of a monthly allowance. Not many inmates are so lucky. A contribution from Lorne's parents have allowed me to open up a bank account for Lorne. When he called this evening and I told him all was set up and he was now an account holder, I honestly thought that he was going to cry. I've never seen anyone so moved by a bank account! But of course, when you have nothing, no access to these types of things, I can see where one could get excited about it.
He recently tried getting his credit report...to which I pointed out that after having been in prison for the past 12 years that he wouldn't have much of a credit history. All three credit reporting agencies wanted extra information to confirm that he was indeed Lorne Richardson. Even providing this is proving to be a struggle since the caseworker assigned to his unit does not understand why Lorne would want a credit report to begin with and dragged her feet until the day she retired, leaving the facility with a host of unanswered requests from Lorne and others. (side note...why do they call them "caseworkers" when they do so little?) He has no government issued ID to share and when you are taken into custody at a prison, all documents that show who you are, are taken from you. Hence, one companies request for a copy of his social security card can't be accommodated since Lorne is no longer in possession of said document.
When I moved to PA, I took my drivers license down to the local bank and quickly and easily opened up an account. It seems to me that instead of offering inmates assistance in getting back on track, we do nothing more than put barriers in their way to that success.
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