To achieve that goal, inmates would engage in recidivism-reduction programs to earn increased good-conduct time. But the lofty objectives of the First Step Act, approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, still have a long way to go to live up to their potential, says Christopher Zoukis, author of the Directory of Federal Prisons and managing director of Zoukis Consulting Group (www.prisonerresource.com). “The Act was a good first step, no pun intended, but where it fails is by excluding too many categories of inmates from various benefit provisions,” says Zoukis, whose firm provides assistance and advice to people already in prison or who are about to be incarcerated.