Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

Issue
Facilitate contact between prisoners and their families during
incarceration by decreasing the expense and increasing methods
of long-distance communication.
Recommendation
Even families that are highly motivated to stay connected
to an imprisoned relative may find it simply impossible to
travel to correctional facilities. Today, the only alternative
to personal visits is telephone conversations.
Unfortunately, this is a costly alternative. In order to pay
for security measures like call recording and real-time call
monitoring, the corrections department imposes a high fee
on telephone calls in and out of prisons. In 1998, the
Florida government commissioned a study to look at state
policies on mail, visiting and phone access, and discovered
that the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) made
50 cents for every one dollar call placed by a prisoner, collecting
an estimated $12–16 million over the course of the
year. 23
However, it is largely inmates’ families that bear this
financial burden since prisoners are allowed to make only
collect calls. Because all calls from an institution are
diverted to a single telephone company under contract
with the corrections department, the paying party is
unable to choose their own—and perhaps lower cost—
service provider. 24 The Florida study found that accepting
collect phone calls from a prisoner cost families an average
of $69.19 per month. 25
“My mom and I went to Menard
Correctional Center to see my brother.
It was very stressful. It took us seven
hours to get there on a dirty, crowded
bus. The bus left from the south side of
Chicago at midnight, and we live on the
west side. We had to take two buses
and two trains just to get to the bus.
Someone went to the bathroom in the
back of the bus. My mom had to clean
it up.”
Jonathan Logan
17 years old; his brother was sentenced to 35 years at Menard
Correctional Center
Solution
IDOC should attempt to reduce or eliminate the excessive
surcharge placed on prison phone calls. If there are revenues
derived from these calls, they should be invested in
direct services to benefit families. New York and
California have used this funding to provide visitor hospitality
centers and a free bus program to transport those
family members who otherwise could not afford a ride to
remote prisons. 26 In addition to visitor centers and transportation
assistance, Illinois could use this pool of
resources to purchase books, toys and games for visiting
children.
Today’s advanced technologies permit a wide array of
long-distance communication—such as email, instant
messaging, videotaped correspondence and videoconferencing—that
should also be considered. Although
security concerns may exist, some states, like California,
Texas, Ohio and Maryland, have found secure ways to
offer basic computer access to inmates. 27 Given the distance
between many incarcerated individuals and their
home communities, IDOC should explore innovative
ways to provide contact opportunities for relatives who
live far away, especially those who may not have the means
to travel.
MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY
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