More questions than answers???

[ERwife]

Hi IPT,
As this journey of ours (Mine and My LO) is starting to slowly end it seems like there are more questions than answers.  According to IDOC my LO's parole date is 12/18/20.  However, he is fighting to get his 9 months county time back.  He has served 20 of his 22.5 years (45 years @ 50%) .  My problem or should I say my confusion is that he was told by his counselor to apply as a Permanent Party for ATC.  Now, Ive read most of the post in this section and I am not sure why he would have been told this.  My LO has a Class X and M charge.  He has applied to get his 9 months county time back twice and was denied.  The first time he was denied on the facility level stating that they needed more observation. Which is crazy to me.  He has been at Dixon for 4 years, has never gotten a ticket or had any problem.  You mean thats not enough time to observe him.  The 2nd time he was approved on the facility level and denied in Springfield.  Again, we dont understand why but I stop trying to make sense of the decisions IDOC makes.  So, now Im wondering is it something that the counselor knows that hes not telling us????  According to the guidelines, my LO is not a qualified candidate for ATC.  The counselor told him to apply based on something changed by the Rauner administration but I dont know what he's talking about.  Does anyone know what he could have been referring to?   

Im sorry for my written tangent but Im getting frustrated and overwhelmed with this whole situation.  I almost wish the counselor just let things be and we continue to deal with this for another 3 years.  This feels like a roller coaster and I am ready to get off the ride.  The continue ups and downs are making me physically sick.   

[Gizgirl2]

I am not aware of any changes that Rauner has made for ATC. As far as I know you are correct that X and M does not qualify for ATC. If the counselor is suggesting then maybe he should apply for it. The only thing that could happen is he gets approved or denied. Good luck hang in there it's almost over!

[ERwife]

Thanks Gizgirl......He was denied but they stated it was too early for him to apply.  I called the counselor and asked for clarity.  He informed me that since my LO had lost his county time early on, he needs to wait until he gets all his county time back and that will give him the correct timeline to apply for work release.  The counselor stated that he should get his time back and be able to re-apply for work release in  April 2018.  But, he still says that my LO can apply.  So, fingers crossed!!!