'Women pay the price when their loved ones are in prison'

A recent Huffington Post story titled, "Women pay the price when their loved ones are in prison" (Dec. 14) included this tidbit about a Texas Inmate Family Association chapter leader:

Leah Miller of Austin, Texas watched her husband struggle to find work after he was released from prison.

If not for an acquaintance willing to hire her husband, Roger, Miller suspects her husband would still be unemployed.

But even though Roger has a part-time job, he's barely able to keep up with all the fees that followed his release after three years in a Texas prison.

Miller keeps track of the post-release expenses on a spreadsheet that show the one-time charges, such as the $350 post-release psychological evaluation, the $250 polygraph test and $90 drug and alcohol assessment. And it lays out the monthly and weekly charges for drug testing, counseling, probation and fines that add up to more than $250 a month.

"He's employed part-time and all of his money goes toward fees and fines," said Miller, who works for a computer company. "We live on my salary alone."

"We are in permanent peril of falling into poverty and living on the street ... The cost of incarceration does not end with them coming out. It goes on and on and on," Miller said.

The unfairness propelled Miller into activism. She's now the chairperson for the Texas Inmate Family Association North Austin chapter. Miller advises relatives on how the prison system works and provides support.