Formerly Incarcerated Benefits Concierge

A Plain-Language Guide to the Help No One Tells You Exists

By: Mo Nell, Donnell Casey, Monique Disu

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Reentry Navigation
Finding Supports After Incarceration

Practical steps for a smoother transition

Reentry shouldn’t feel like punishment after punishment.

Yet for millions of people returning from incarceration and the families and professionals supporting them—the system feels confusing, fragmented, and intentionally hard to navigate. Help exists, but it’s rarely explained, rarely coordinated, and often missed because no one hands you the map.

This book is that map.

Reentry Navigation is a plain-language guide to the benefits, funding, and supports that people with justice involvement are legally allowed to access but are rarely told about. It doesn’t lecture. It doesn’t shame. And it doesn’t promise miracles. Instead, it explains what exists, why people miss it, and how to ask for it.

Inside this guide, you’ll learn how to navigate:

• Reentry grants and cash assistance (not loans)

• Housing help after incarceration

• Expungement and record-sealing fee waivers

• Paid job training and stipends

• Driver’s license reinstatement support

• Pell Grants and education funding

• Deadlines, paperwork, and quiet eligibility windows

• How to talk to caseworkers without getting shut down

• How to build a personal “reentry stack” that actually works

You’ll also find:

• Step-by-step worksheets

• Scripts you can use when calling agencies, courts, or nonprofits

• Mini-guides on record clearing and education funding

• Tools for families supporting someone reentering

• Practical frameworks for nonprofits, counties, faith-based organizations, and employers

Who this book is for:

• People recently released from incarceration

• Families helping a loved one reenter

• Case managers, reentry coordinators, and nonprofit staff

• Faith-based organizations and community groups

• Employers and workforce programs involved in second-chance hiring

This is not legal advice. It’s better than that it’s translation.

Reentry Navigation was written to reduce confusion, restore dignity, and make sure people aren’t failing simply because they were never given instructions.

You don’t need motivation.
You need navigation.

And now you have it.