Answers to the questions people ask most often about the Federal Prison Readiness Assessment, the no-cost orientation call, and preparing for federal self-surrender.
No. It is a confidential self-assessment that scores how prepared you are across five readiness domains. It is not legal advice and not a Bureau of Prisons product. For legal questions, work with your defense attorney.
Yes. The assessment, your readiness score, the category-level insights, and the PDF report are all no-cost. The recommended next step is a no-cost one-on-one orientation call with Federal Sentence Help.
About 7 to 10 minutes. There are 26 questions across five categories: legal and process awareness, financial preparation, family and personal affairs, mental and physical preparation, and practical reality and readiness.
Your individual answers are confidential. The assessment is built so that contact information is collected only when you choose to unlock and download your report, and only Federal Sentence Help sees it.
Your score sits in one of four tiers: Critical, Low Readiness, Moderate Readiness, or Well-Prepared. The PDF report also breaks the score down by category and surfaces your weakest domain first so the highest-leverage work is obvious.
No. Release-date math — Good Conduct Time, First Step Act earned time credits, RDAP, Second Chance Act community placement — belongs on the Federal Sentence Calculator at calculator.federalsentencehelp.org. The assessment is about preparation, not computation.
The Bureau of Prisons makes the designation decision based on PSR data, security points, medical care levels, judicial recommendations, and management variables. The BOP Facility Guide at bop-guide.federalsentencehelp.org is the research tool. Designation is not something the assessment determines.
The Guidebook is the comprehensive, written preparation resource authored by Federal Sentence Help. It is included with client engagement — it is not sold separately. The high-level material on this site points to the categories the Guidebook covers in detail.
Federal defendants who have been sentenced or expect to be sentenced and are preparing for self-surrender to a federal camp or low-security facility, and their families. The assessment is the entry point; the one-on-one call is where situation-specific guidance starts.
From the results page, or from any 'Book your no-cost call' button on the site. The call is no-cost and covers your situation, the next steps, and which Federal Sentence Help resources fit.
Federal Sentence Help is an independent guidance service. It is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the Bureau of Prisons. Nothing here is legal advice.