After serving three years in prison for selling a small amount of Xanax pills, Charles Thompson found even worse accommodations upon his release in 2015: the sand under the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
âI couldnât get housing and I hated shelters,â said Thompson, 60, of Atlantic City. âSo I slept for months with the âpossums, raccoons, and squirrels. There was no General Assistance to help me.â
People convicted of felony drug distribution in New Jersey cannot receive GA, a program that gives low-income adults with no dependent children a monthly stipend of $185, as well as job training. Thanks to a strange quirk of law, anyone who completes a prison sentence for a non-drug distribution felony â including a violent crime â can get GA. People convicted of drug possession may receive GA.