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The Hidden Price Of Prison: Calls Cost Inmates' Families

The decision to commit a crime often changes a person's life forever. It can mean years of jail time or probation and long-lasting pain for the victims.

But the decision can also have a profound impact on the perpetrator's family.

They're left to decide whether to support their incarcerated loved ones financially and emotionally - and some say doing so makes them victims, too.

In part one of our series, The Hidden Price of Prison, we introduce you to a single mom from Bloomington who goes great lengths to help the man she loves.

For Families Of Inmates, Communications Aren't Cheap



Mornings at the Graves household revolve around two things - flap jacks and phone calls.

The voice of Steven Snyder is on the phone. He's calling from Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill. He's been incarcerated for the past five years, serving time for armed robbery.

He and Alicia Graves started out as friends, but have since become more like family.

"I guess you can't really determine who you fall in love with," Graves says. "It just kind of happens. And his circumstance really didn't bother me because it was what he had done before we met and got together. What he does now is what concerns me."

Graves helps support Snyder while he's in prison.

On top of raising six kids on her own, she sends him money to help pay for food and clothing he can purchase through commissary.

She also spends money on phone calls and video visits - and it all adds up quickly.

"Phone calls are a little ridiculous. They're $7.20 a phone call for 30 minutes," she says.

That comes out to 24 cents a minute - more than what the Federal Bureau of Prisons charges for long-distance calls.

It turns out there are few regulations for prison communications providers.

Last year, FCC rules went into effect that capped the cost of interstate calls from prisons after the commission found that unrestricted long-distance rates "often resulted in unreasonably high phone bills for inmates' families."

Now, the calls can't exceed 25 cents per minute for collect calls and 21 cents per minute for prepaid calls.

But those regulations only apply to out-of-state interactions.

A company called Global Tel*Link provides inmate payphone services in Indiana. As part of its contract, GTL must pay the state an 18 percent commission on all revenue generated from inmate calls.

Instead of having the best interest of the consumers and driving the prices down like they do in a normal marketplace, in the prison and jail context, it's the person who charges the most that gets the contract.

-Aleks Kajstura, Prison Policy Initiative



Last year, the state made more than $3.5 million off the deal. A portion of that money goes to the Office of Technology and facility recreation funds. The remaining revenue is deposited into the Department of Corrections technology fund.

The money helps improve prisons and programs, but the Prison Policy Initiative says the kickbacks create a conflict of interest.

"Instead of having the best interest of the consumers and driving the prices down like they do in a normal marketplace, in the prison and jail context, it's the person who charges the most that gets the contract," says Aleks Kajstura, legal director at the Prison Policy Initiative. "Then, everybody who uses the services has to pay and their family members pay, rather than being able to decide the price themselves."

Contact Might Be Helpful For Inmates, But Only If They Can Afford It



The state also makes money off its deal with JPay, a company that provides several technology services to inmates and their families.

For $9.95, families can visit with inmates virtually for half an hour. They can also purchase stamps that allow them to communicate via e-mail and send money orders through the service.

JPay installed kiosks where inmates can take advantage of the technology – and they did so at no cost to the state.

They also have to turn a portion of their revenue over to the Department of Corrections. Last year, that amounted to more than $190,000.

Indiana Department of Corrections Deputy Commissioner James Basinger says the technology is making it easier for inmates to communicate with family and friends. He says staying connected to the outside world can impact an offenders' success once they're released.

I think the statistics show that the more contact you have with the family, the less likely you are to come back to prison.

-James Basinger, INDOC Deputy Commissioner



"I think the statistics show that the more contact you have with the family, the less likely you are to come back to prison," Basinger says.

But, for many inmates, the cost of staying in touch falls to their families and friends.

"It's a huge burden to the families," Kajstura says. "And, when you look at the big picture, it burdens the families, lowering their ability to have actual visits, to have frequent communications, which have all shown to be very important to reduce recidivism, to make sure that once someone completes their prison term they can integrate back into their family with less stress involved for everybody."

Inmates do have opportunities to work and earn money while they're incarcerated, but the pay isn't much.

"A basic salary for offenders at the high end for just regular facility jobs is about 25 cents per hour for that hourly rate and that covers clerks, sanitation detail, mowing crews," Basinger says. "Then we have some more specialized jobs that we offer through the prison industries."

Prisoners who have less than $15 on their accounts are classified as indigent offenders and the DOC provides them with basic items until they can get a job and start making money.

Basigner says the DOC does try to make it easier financially and logistically for families to stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones.

"A number of our facilities are in rural areas and they're some distance to travel," he says. "So, our number one priority when we look at an offender's classification is where can we place him where he'll be closest to his support network - try to reduce the distance family members have to travel to come see him. So, we really look at that and try to look at that bond with the family."

Waiting To Be On The Outside



Graves says she's lucky - she doesn't have as much of a financial hardship as many other families do.

She runs her own business, a nursing home beauty shop, to help support her kids. And Snyder worked his way through several Department of Labor apprenticeships and now has a minimum wage job.

"He makes $7.25 an hour and he works on bracket, which means it's every other day. He makes more in two weeks than most of them make in three months," Graves says.

Fifteen percent of Snyder's paycheck is put into a re-entry fund, which will be released once he leaves prison. Another portion of the money goes toward victim restitution.

Whatever's leftover he uses to purchase items from commissary, but he still has to rely on his parents and Graves for help.

"It makes me feel so guilty to know that not only my parents are out there taking care of my nephew," Snyder says. "My girl... she's taking care of multiple kids, and I feel like every dollar is away from them. That's something they work hard for, and I know they give it to me because they love me and they want me to be OK, too, but it makes me feel so guilty."

Snyder says it gives him extra motivation to keep working hard and stay out of trouble.

"I'm ready - just ready for another chance at life," he says.

I look at my dad and that's what I want to be like. I just want to be happy, have someone next to me that I love and trust and watch the kids grow up and go to their school things. Have nice things, work hard.

-Steven Snyder, INDOC inmate



But that second chance won't come cheap.

The financial struggles for Graves and Snyder will likely continue long after his release.

They're hoping to get him out on house arrest in the next few months, but it's so expensive they'll likely move.

"Given being in Bloomington, the rent is so high here you can't expect a family to be able to pay rent, plus utilities, plus to be able to pay for house arrest, plus whatever fees the courts put on," Graves says. "So, we'll probably move to somewhere in Monroe County but hopefully cheaper than the city of Bloomington."

That doesn't sound too bad to Snyder after spending five years locked up.

He dreams of getting out and being the person he was raised to be.

"I look at my dad and that's what I want to be like. I just want to be happy, have someone next to me that I love and trust and watch the kids grow up and go to their school things. Have nice things, work hard."

In part two of our series, The Hidden Price of Prison, we'll introduce you to people who are helping prisoners' families stay connected with their loved ones. We'll take a deeper look at how those relationships impact inmate success once they're released from prison.

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