Not speaking for OP, but aside from catching up with the world in terms of news and culture, social support is a big deal. Being kicked loose means needing a ride to get to … somewhere to go. Hopefully that’s lined up already. Adjusting to non-institutionlized living takes time and practice. Suddenly not being forced onto someone else’s schedule is a big change and can easily lead someone down into a state of depression. It also means having the opportunity to process the time they spent living in prison. It might not be an easy thing to talk about, and there’s always the risk of well-intentioned (or just uncomfortable and not doing a great job of handling it) friends or family being like, “But you’re out now! Why do you still want to talk about it? It’s over, and you need to move on!” but someone just getting out has just spent however long constantly on guard for any little sign of trouble. That’s pretty rough on a person.
There are probably a million other things I’m missing from here, but leaving is a massive transition that can be hard to make for a lot of people for a lot of good reasons. Check out the work of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition in California! Unsupported re-entry is something they’ve been addressing for more than a decade.
Not speaking for OP, but aside from catching up with the world in terms of news and culture, social support is a big deal. Being kicked loose means needing a ride to get to … somewhere to go. Hopefully that’s lined up already. Adjusting to non-institutionlized living takes time and practice. Suddenly not being forced onto someone else’s schedule is a big change and can easily lead someone down into a state of depression. It also means having the opportunity to process the time they spent living in prison. It might not be an easy thing to talk about, and there’s always the risk of well-intentioned (or just uncomfortable and not doing a great job of handling it) friends or family being like, “But you’re out now! Why do you still want to talk about it? It’s over, and you need to move on!” but someone just getting out has just spent however long constantly on guard for any little sign of trouble. That’s pretty rough on a person.
There are probably a million other things I’m missing from here, but leaving is a massive transition that can be hard to make for a lot of people for a lot of good reasons. Check out the work of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition in California! Unsupported re-entry is something they’ve been addressing for more than a decade.