Can you collect benefits after you get out of prison?
Verified 04 February 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Yes, after your release from prison, you will receive several types of allowances depending on your personal situation. You can apply for social assistance from the Family Allowance Fund (RSARSA : Income from active solidarity, AAHAAH : Disabled adults' allowance, APLAPL : Customized housing assistance, etc.) and France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi). Working in prison also allows you to benefit from pension rights.
FYI
When preparing for your release, the Prison Insertion and Probation Counselor (CPIP) who follows you checks whether you are entitled to social assistance.
Allocations of the Cif
After your release from prison, the Family Allowance Fund can pay you allowances if you request them.
A resumption of benefits is possible if you receive aid (recipient) of the CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund before your incarceration.
If you had no help before entering prison (non-beneficiary), you can register with the CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund and ask to collect the aid to which you are entitled.
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Recipient before your imprisonment
After your release, you can again benefit from:
- From active solidarity income (SSA) within one month of your release
- From Disabled Adult Allowance (DAA) at full rate on 1er day of the month following your release from prison
- From the activity premium within 3 months of your release.
You can also benefit from personalized housing assistance (CHA).
You can request the resumption of one or more of these aids to your CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund by taking an online approach:
Application for allowances to the FCA (former inmate)
FYI
Before any request, you must indicate that you have just been released from prison by declaring a change of situation. To do this, you must provide your exit certificate
The conditions for obtaining and the amount of these various aids depend on your personal situation.
The CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund takes into account your marital status, the number of dependent children and your financial resources on your way out of prison.
Not a recipient before your incarceration
When you are released, you may benefit from the following aids:
- Active Solidarity Income (RSA)
- Disabled adult allowance (AAH)
- Activity bonus
- Customized housing assistance
You can estimate your rights and apply for help by doing the following:
Application for allowances to the FCA (former inmate)
The conditions for obtaining and the amount of these various aids depend on your personal situation.
The CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund takes into account your marital status, the number of dependent children and your financial resources on your way out of prison.
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Recipient before your imprisonment
After your release, you can again benefit from:
- From active solidarity income (SSA) within one month of your release
- From Disabled Adult Allowance (DAA) at full rate on 1er day of the month following your release from prison
- From the activity premium within 3 months of your release.
You can also benefit from personalized housing assistance (CHA).
You can request the resumption of one or more of these aids to your CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund by taking an online approach:
Application for allowances to the FCA (former inmate)
FYI
Before any request, you must indicate that you have just been released from prison by declaring a change of situation. To do this, you must provide your exit certificate
The conditions for obtaining and the amount of these various aids depend on your personal situation.
The CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund takes into account your marital status, the number of dependent children and your financial resources on your way out of prison.
Not a recipient before your incarceration
When you are released, you may benefit from the following aids:
- Active Solidarity Income (RSA)
- Disabled adult allowance (AAH)
- Activity bonus
- Customized housing assistance
You can estimate your rights and apply for help by doing the following:
Application for allowances to the FCA (former inmate)
The conditions for obtaining and the amount of these various aids depend on your personal situation.
The CafCaf : Family Allowance Fund takes into account your marital status, the number of dependent children and your financial resources on your way out of prison.
Allocations France Travail
If you are major and that you were enrolled in France Labor before you were detained, you can claim unemployment benefit (AREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance) when you are released.
The same applies if you were not registered with France Travail prior to your incarceration but that you have worked in prison and that your contract has completed after 1er January 2025.
If you have between 16 and 25 years and you have just been released from prison, you can also sign a youth employment contract financed by France Travail.
FYI
You cannot combine the allowance paid on a young employment contract with theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance.
General case
Person registered with France Travail before detention
From the moment you enter prison, your rights to Return-to-Work Allowance (RWA) are suspended.
Upon your release, you can request that theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance on condition that the time elapsed since the date on which your rights are opened shall not exceed the duration of this right plus six years.
Example :
You registered for France Travail in January 2020 and you must receive an unemployment benefit until January 2022.
In 2021, you are incarcerated for 18 months. In the meantime, you are not receiving theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance.
As long as you are released in May 2023, you can request the resumption of your rights.
You can apply until January 2028 since your rights were valid until January 2022 and it is possible to add a period of 6 years to that date.
To get your rights back, you need to re-enroll in France Travail.
This re-registration may take place:
- At the time of release
- Or at the time of commencement sentencing adjustments from which you benefit.
When you re-register, take your exit certificate which indicates your dates of entry and exit from prison.
This document makes it possible, in particular, to evaluate the remaining amount of allowances from which you can benefit.
Other supporting documents may be requested (for example: RIBRIB : Bank identity statement, Vitale card).
Person not registered with France Travail before his detention
If you weren't not registered in France Work before your detention but that your prison employment contract ended after 1er january 2025, you can ask Return-to-Work Allowance (RWA).
To get theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance, you must iSubscribe to France Travail :
- At the time of release
- Or at the time that begins sentencing adjustments from which you benefit.
To prove that you worked during your incarceration, the prison administration gives you a certificate confirming that you have signed a prison employment contract.
This attestation is sent to you at the time of your release or when the sentence adjustment measure you receive begins.
FYI
The prison administration also gives this certificate to France Travail at the end of your prison employment contract.
When registering as a job seeker, it is advisable to bring this certificate, even if the agents of France Travail are already aware of it.
You must also provide your exit certificate of prison.
This bulletin is one of the documents used to calculate the amount of the allowance to which you will be entitled.
Other supporting documents may be requested (for example: RIBRIB : Bank identity statement, vital card).
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Person registered with France Travail before detention
From the moment you enter prison, your rights to Return-to-Work Allowance (RWA) are suspended.
Upon your release, you can request that theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance on condition that the time elapsed since the date on which your rights are opened shall not exceed the duration of this right plus six years.
Example :
You registered for France Travail in January 2020 and you must receive an unemployment benefit until January 2022.
In 2021, you are incarcerated for 18 months. In the meantime, you are not receiving theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance.
As long as you are released in May 2023, you can request the resumption of your rights.
You can apply until January 2028 since your rights were valid until January 2022 and it is possible to add a period of 6 years to that date.
To get your rights back, you need to re-enroll in France Travail.
This re-registration may take place:
- At the time of release
- Or at the time of commencement sentencing adjustments from which you benefit.
When you re-register, take your exit certificate which indicates your dates of entry and exit from prison.
This document makes it possible, in particular, to evaluate the remaining amount of allowances from which you can benefit.
Other supporting documents may be requested (for example: RIBRIB : Bank identity statement, Vitale card).
Person not registered with France Travail before his detention
If you weren't not registered in France Work before your detention but that your prison employment contract ended after 1er january 2025, you can ask Return-to-Work Allowance (RWA).
To get theAREARE : Return-to-work assistance allowance, you must iSubscribe to France Travail :
- At the time of release
- Or at the time that begins sentencing adjustments from which you benefit.
To prove that you worked during your incarceration, the prison administration gives you a certificate confirming that you have signed a prison employment contract.
This attestation is sent to you at the time of your release or when the sentence adjustment measure you receive begins.
FYI
The prison administration also gives this certificate to France Travail at the end of your prison employment contract.
When registering as a job seeker, it is advisable to bring this certificate, even if the agents of France Travail are already aware of it.
You must also provide your exit certificate of prison.
This bulletin is one of the documents used to calculate the amount of the allowance to which you will be entitled.
Other supporting documents may be requested (for example: RIBRIB : Bank identity statement, vital card).
Under 25
If you are between 16 and 25 years old, you can benefit from a youth employment contract on your release.
This contract allows you to participate in collective and/or personalized professional activities, in several areas (help in the preparation of a CVCV : Curriculum vitae, awareness of company creation, etc.).
In return, you get an allowance from France Travail or a local Mission.
This allowance is calculated based on your age, financial resources and/or those of your members. tax shelter.
FYI
The youth employment contract is also accessible to persons with disabilities under 30 years of age.
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Retirement rights
If you have worked in prisonYes, you paid into retirement.
This means that you can benefit from pension rights upon your release.
However, the salary in prison is less important than the SmicSmic : Minimum cross-industry growth wage your pension rights can usually be reduced compared to a worker who has never been incarcerated.
Ata: exercise of a professional activity
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