After leaving prison, Jacob was faced with the many challenges that come with managing life post-release.
As a partner and dad of two young boys he found himself suddenly dealing with the financial responsibilities of contributing to rent, general household bills and transport costs, as well as sharing childcare expenses for two.
While Jacob gained casual employment as a crew member at YMCA ReBuild, financial pressures weighed heavily. He lacked any extra money for those unplanned costs, such as a visit to the doctor. He was unable to save for unexpected costs or lifestyle opportunities due to debt he had accrued over the past few years. The amount owed felt overwhelming and without knowing how to address the issue, the looming debt affected his anxiety and mental health.
But participating in the financial wellbeing program has been incredibly valuable for Jacob.
During the delivery of the training module about fines and debts, Jacob felt comfortable to share he had some substantial debt he had not yet dealt with. Following a subsequent conversation with his case manager, he was encouraged to take action. That same afternoon Jacob made some calls and requested payment plans to be put in place with both Fines Victoria and the ATO.
Jacob says the program was very helpful.
“It gave me a good insight into overall budgeting and made me more aware of credit and the need to keep up with working on building a good credit score,” he said.
"Due to the program, I have been able to reduce some of my debt and this has eased the pressure.
"Having the confidence to open up and deal with my fines was a win.”
The conversation with Jacob also prompted his case manager to look further into what Fines Victoria could offer beyond extension dates. She found information about a prison program where time served can count towards some fines being waived.
As ReBuild case manager Kim Metzler recalls: “Victoria Fines spoke with me (after Jacob had had to call them to give permission) and were so helpful. They put me through to speak to someone who had a look at the type of fines Jacob had accumulated and asked me some questions about his incarceration dates. This person then said it is likely that almost all of the fines would be waived but encouraged me to submit the online form on behalf of Jacob for their consideration. I did so straight away.
Kelly Taylor delivered the training to ReBuild employees in 2023
“Two days later Jacob received an email saying all the fines had been waived due to the time he served on remand with the exception of the $200. The amount waived was just over $9,000.
“Not only I am really pleased for Jacob but I was thinking about how many other people we work with who may potentially be eligible for this program on release”.
Kim said it had been a big learning curve for them to ask the young people about fines while they were still working with them in custody.
“Without the program Jacob may just have continued to put this off and not mention any of this debt to us,” she said.
Jacob said he felt “relieved and very happy” about being able to reduce his debt.
He agreed more social enterprises should offer a financial wellbeing program as part of their wrap-around supports.
“It was great that ReBuild was able to offer this program to us as it was very helpful," he said.