Aren there a lot of financial benefits available to ex-offenders from social security and other government agencies?
No, there are no benefits directly given to released offenders/ex-offenders in the form of financial assistance or benefits. There are no loans or grants to released offenders. In fact, some categories of drug offenders are specifically excluded from eligibility for public assistance to the indigent or for student loans or grants precisely because of their felony conviction for certain types of offenses. Persistent rumors float around all prisons about a “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” which purports to be money just waiting to be given to all ex-offenders when they are released from prison. Nothing could be further from the truth.
