Tara Blum, a Remedy Project member housed at a halfway house in Chicago, completed her RDAP program on January 14th, 2025. RDAP (Residential Drug Abuse Program) is a program offered by the Bureau of Prisons that, when completed by incarcerated individuals, should lead to a reduction in their sentence and early release. Thus, Ms. Blum requested a halfway house date of January 15th following her completion of the program. However, RRM (Residential Reentry Management) in Chicago responded by saying the earliest possible date of release into a halfway house would be March 5th, almost three months after her requested date. This response is where the oppressive streak of RRM Chicago began.
Not only was the halfway release date late, but Ms. Blum was placed into a halfway house in Milwaukee, approximately 1.5 hours outside of her Chicago home. In an attempt to understand this situation, Blum reached out to her unit manager, who claimed the prison had selected March 5th as her release date because of halfway house closures. Immediately, Ms. Blum suggested home confinement as an alternative, considering her house and situation had already been approved by the BOP as a legitimate option for her early release. The unit manager blatantly refused to follow up on this request.
Confused and frustrated by this BOP neglect, Blum turned to her family for help, having them call halfway houses in her home district of Chicago. To her surprise, several halfway houses from her home district replied that they had plenty of openings, themselves being unaware of why RRM Chicago would claim a lack of openings. Ms. Blum took this information to her case manager, only to be met with this negligent response: “there is nothing we can or will do.” Her unit manager also told her that she does not have a relationship with RRM, but this negligence is not out of the ordinary for them due to poor management.
Blum’s outdate was changed from 5/14/2025 to 8/14/2025 because she does not have the time to do TDAP (another BOP program meant to contribute to early releases). Additionally, she has outstanding FSA credits, additional credits that can be applied toward early release, that are not being properly accounted for.
The staff at RRM Chicago are expected to uphold and enforce the law that gives incarcerated people the ability to use BOP programs to get an early release. No one should have to spend time in detention without knowing why they are still there, being lied to about halfway house availability and being deprived of the communities they were taken from for even longer. Yet, time and time again, Ms. Blum has been the victim of complete negligence by every staff member responsible for orchestrating her release. Her story is a testament to the constant disregard of human rights as protected by the law throughout the Bureau of Prisons.
Any staff member who has been involved with determining Ms. Blum’s release date should have their legality investigated. They ignored Ms. Blum and her case, while being the only people who could help her get the information needed to find a solution. Thus, not only have they stripped her of her legal right to FSA credits and other early release programs, but they have also taken her ability to self-advocate, leaving her powerless over her own life. RRM Chicago and the Bureau of Prisons have failed Ms. Blum without any semblance of an explanation as to why they refuse to search for a halfway house closer to home or grant her home confinement.
Join us in demanding justice for Tara Blum. She deserves her early release immediately. The staff has no logical reason to continue denying her credits. Furthermore, we demand that all those involved in the supervision of Ms. Blum are punished for negligence. During this unnecessarily long time in prison, she has lost out on the opportunity to reconnect with family, friends, and her community to begin rebuilding her life. Advocating for her is advocating for all those across the entire United States who share a similar human rights injustice. We are requesting your support so that we can ensure all our members, including Ms. Blum, are properly cared for and that all staff involved at RRM Chicago will be sufficiently punished for their failures.
Tara Blum, a Remedy Project member housed at a halfway house in Chicago, completed her RDAP program on January 14th, 2025. RDAP (Residential Drug Abuse Program) is a program offered by the Bureau of Prisons that, when completed by incarcerated individuals, should lead to a reduction in their sentence and early release. Thus, Ms. Blum requested a halfway house date of January 15th following her completion of the program. However, RRM (Residential Reentry Management) in Chicago responded by saying the earliest possible date of release into a halfway house would be March 5th, almost three months after her requested date. This response is where the oppressive streak of RRM Chicago began.
Not only was the halfway release date late, but Ms. Blum was placed into a halfway house in Milwaukee, approximately 1.5 hours outside of her Chicago home. In an attempt to understand this situation, Blum reached out to her unit manager, who claimed the prison had selected March 5th as her release date because of halfway house closures. Immediately, Ms. Blum suggested home confinement as an alternative, considering her house and situation had already been approved by the BOP as a legitimate option for her early release. The unit manager blatantly refused to follow up on this request.
Confused and frustrated by this BOP neglect, Blum turned to her family for help, having them call halfway houses in her home district of Chicago. To her surprise, several halfway houses from her home district replied that they had plenty of openings, themselves being unaware of why RRM Chicago would claim a lack of openings. Ms. Blum took this information to her case manager, only to be met with this negligent response: “there is nothing we can or will do.” Her unit manager also told her that she does not have a relationship with RRM, but this negligence is not out of the ordinary for them due to poor management.
Blum’s outdate was changed from 5/14/2025 to 8/14/2025 because she does not have the time to do TDAP (another BOP program meant to contribute to early releases). Additionally, she has outstanding FSA credits, additional credits that can be applied toward early release, that are not being properly accounted for.
The staff at RRM Chicago are expected to uphold and enforce the law that gives incarcerated people the ability to use BOP programs to get an early release. No one should have to spend time in detention without knowing why they are still there, being lied to about halfway house availability and being deprived of the communities they were taken from for even longer. Yet, time and time again, Ms. Blum has been the victim of complete negligence by every staff member responsible for orchestrating her release. Her story is a testament to the constant disregard of human rights as protected by the law throughout the Bureau of Prisons.
Any staff member who has been involved with determining Ms. Blum’s release date should have their legality investigated. They ignored Ms. Blum and her case, while being the only people who could help her get the information needed to find a solution. Thus, not only have they stripped her of her legal right to FSA credits and other early release programs, but they have also taken her ability to self-advocate, leaving her powerless over her own life. RRM Chicago and the Bureau of Prisons have failed Ms. Blum without any semblance of an explanation as to why they refuse to search for a halfway house closer to home or grant her home confinement.
Join us in demanding justice for Tara Blum. She deserves her early release immediately. The staff has no logical reason to continue denying her credits. Furthermore, we demand that all those involved in the supervision of Ms. Blum are punished for negligence. During this unnecessarily long time in prison, she has lost out on the opportunity to reconnect with family, friends, and her community to begin rebuilding her life. Advocating for her is advocating for all those across the entire United States who share a similar human rights injustice. We are requesting your support so that we can ensure all our members, including Ms. Blum, are properly cared for and that all staff involved at RRM Chicago will be sufficiently punished for their failures.
