Getting into RDAP is the first battle. Staying in it is the second and in some ways harder one.
Here is what most people do not know going in.
RDAP participants are housed together in a dedicated unit and identified by a yellow belt. Everyone knows who you are and what program you are in. That visibility is a double-edged sword.
The jealousy problem is real. Not everyone can get into RDAP. Inmates with violence in their history or a weapon used in the commission of their crime are disqualified entirely. Some of those inmates resent the people who do qualify, not just for the separate housing but for the sentence reduction benefit they will never have access to. That resentment can become a target on your back.
The most common attack is a setup. Contraband gets planted in your area or on your person. Then someone tells a guard. Staff does a shakedown, they find something, and suddenly you are in a situation you did not create. The moment that happens, you are likely heading to the Special Housing Unit, the SHU, while the incident is investigated. That stay in the SHU alone can be enough to get you removed from the program, depending on how it is handled.
Even if you are ultimately found not guilty of the infraction, you may still face a review of your RDAP status. Not guilty does not automatically mean you stay in. The program administrators make their own determination.
How do you protect yourself? The same way you protect yourself from everything inside. Be invisible. Follow every rule to the letter. Do your assigned job at the highest level. Do not give anyone anything to work with. Be especially careful about who you are seen talking to and where. A conversation that looks suspicious to the wrong set of eyes is all it takes to start a chain of events that costs you 12 months of your life.
The inmates who complete RDAP successfully are almost always the ones who treated it like a job with the highest possible stakes. Because it is.
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