How to Earn (and Protect) First Step Act Days Off a Federal Sentence

The guy who was supposed to come home in two weeks

I knew a guy who was supposed to get out in two and a half weeks.

Two and a half weeks. His family had the house ready. His kid had the outfit picked out for the day he walked through the door.

Then he caught a shot. An incident report — something small, something that shouldn't have mattered. But it mattered. His release date got pushed back two years.

Two years. Over a shot.

He was earning 15 days a month. He had the maximum rate. He was almost home. And the BOP took it all back in one afternoon.

That's the part nobody tells you. The days are real. The days are his. But the BOP can take them — and they do — the moment he slips.

So here's how to earn them. And here's how to keep them.

---

What FSA earned time credits actually are

The First Step Act lets federal inmates earn days off their sentence by participating in approved programs and productive activities. These are called FSA Time Credits (FTC).

They are not good conduct time. Good conduct time is separate — it's automatic for good behavior. FSA credits are earned by actively doing things: programs, classes, work assignments, and other activities the BOP has approved.

The credits stack up over the sentence and get applied toward earlier placement in a halfway house (RRC) or home confinement — or toward supervised release. Done right, they can cut a year or more off the time someone actually sits in a secure facility.

---

The two earning rates: 10 days or 15 days a month

Not everyone earns at the same speed. The rate depends on the inmate's PATTERN risk level — the BOP's recidivism-risk assessment.

• Minimum-risk inmates earn 15 days of credit for every 30 days of programming. That's one day off for every two days of participation.
• Low-risk inmates earn 10 days of credit for every 30 days of programming. That's one day off for every three days of participation.
• Medium and high-risk inmates do not earn FSA time credits under current BOP policy. They can still participate in programs to try to lower their risk level — and once they drop to low or minimum, the earning starts.

What this means in plain terms: at 15 days a month, a sentence gets cut in half. At 10 days a month, it gets cut by a third. That's the difference between coming home in 2026 and coming home in 2028.

The risk level is reassessed at least once a year. It can go down — through clear conduct, program completion, and age. It can also go up.

---

Who can earn FSA credits (and who can't)

Basic eligibility — all three must be true:

• The person is serving a federal sentence (state inmates and pretrial detainees are not eligible)
• The person was not convicted of a disqualifying offense (see below)
• The person is at an institution and not in disciplinary segregation

Disqualifying offenses — these exclude you permanently, no matter your risk level or behavior:

• Violent crimes: murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping
• Sex offenses: rape, sexual abuse, child pornography, sexual exploitation of children, any offense involving a minor victim
• Terrorism-related offenses
• Heroin or fentanyl importation (21 U.S.C. 960)
• Certain high-level drug trafficking offenses
• Any offense requiring sex offender registration

The exclusion is based on the conviction, not on behavior inside. If the conviction falls in one of these buckets, FSA credits are off the table — period.

Most federal offenses are still eligible: drug trafficking (except heroin/fentanyl importation), white-collar and financial crimes, immigration offenses, weapons charges, tax crimes, and most nonviolent federal offenses.

---

How credits are actually earned

Being eligible doesn't earn anything. Credits come from participating in approved Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction (EBRR) programs and Productive Activities.

Step 1: Complete the FSA Needs Survey

This is required for every inmate. The Needs Survey (the risk and needs assessment) determines the person's risk level and what programs they need. Without it, no FSA credits can be earned. It marks the start of earning eligibility.

Tell your loved one to look for "survey" in their TRULINCS account on the computer. If there isn't one active, they can get a paper copy from Psychology.

Keep proof of when it's completed. The BOP often denies it was ever done. A dated note, a screenshot, a copy of the submitted form — anything. This is the single most common way families lose credits they already earned.

Step 2: Get on a program waiting list

Here's the part most families miss: your loved one does not have to be IN a program to start earning. Being on the waiting list counts as "programming."

They can start earning days off the moment they finish Step 1 and get on a waitlist. Sign up for everything — RDAP, drug education, work assignments, classes. Waiting lists are long. Get on them immediately.

Step 3: Ask Unit Team for the right documents

Within the first 30–60 days, your loved one should request three documents from their case manager or unit team:

1. Sentence Computation — the official calculation of the sentence
2. FSA Time Credit Worksheet — shows how many days have been earned and applied
3. Custody Classification Sheet — shows the current custody level and what it takes to lower it

These three documents tell you exactly where the person stands, how the BOP classified them, and what they need to complete. This is how you map the fastest route to a lower-security facility — and eventually home.

---

How credits get applied (earned vs. applied)

This is where over 70% of federal inmates get held longer than they should.

Earned credits come from being in "FSA compliant" status and participating in programming. They pile up month after month.

Applied credits are when the BOP actually deducts them from the sentence. The BOP does this roughly once a month, with no explanation, no breakdown, and no notice.

Two things go wrong:

1. The BOP incorrectly calculates the eligible FSA days. The worksheet says one number, the computer says another.
2. Days are earned but never applied. They sit in the system, unused, while the person stays in prison past the date they should have left.

When your loved one asks the case manager to explain it, the answer is usually: "I don't know, it's what the computer says."

The rule for applying credits: to have credits applied (not just earned), the inmate must be rated minimum or low risk on their last two reassessments. One good assessment isn't enough. Two in a row. That's why keeping the risk level down matters so much — a single incident report can bump the score up and reset the clock.

---

How to protect the days once you're earning the max

This is the section for families whose loved one is already at 15 days a month — the maximum rate. Earning the days is half the battle. Keeping them is the other half.

What can take the days back

• Incident reports (shots). Even a minor one can rescind credits earned during that period. A serious one can wipe months.
• Disciplinary segregation. Time in the SHU pauses earning entirely — and credits earned while on a waitlist can be rescinded if the person is removed for discipline.
• A risk-level increase. If the PATTERN score goes up at reassessment, the inmate drops back to a lower earning rate — or stops earning entirely if they go to medium/high.
• Waitlist removal. Credits earned while on a waitlist are rescinded if the inmate is removed from the waitlist for disciplinary reasons.

What to do

• Tell your loved one to keep their head down. This is the boring, unglamorous truth. No arguments with officers, no gambling debts, no contraband. The single biggest day-killer inside is a shot over something dumb.
• Keep proof of everything. Needs Survey completion, program enrollments, waitlist placements, certificates of completion. The BOP routinely loses paperwork. If you can't prove it happened, the BOP will say it didn't.
• Watch the PATTERN score. Ask for the reassessment results every time. If the score went up, find out why and address it before the next one.
• Check the FSA Time Credit Worksheet regularly. Compare earned vs. applied. If there's a gap — days earned but not applied — that's the error to fight.

---

The bottom line

FSA time credits are the most powerful tool a federal inmate has to come home sooner. They are real, they stack, and they can take a year or more off a sentence. But they are also fragile — the BOP can take them back, and they do.

Earn them by finishing the Needs Survey, getting on every waitlist you can, and participating in approved programs. Protect them by keeping clean conduct, keeping proof of everything, and watching the worksheet for the gap between what was earned and what was actually applied.

You're not just watching a date. You're understanding the rules well enough to make sure the BOP lives up to them.