— written and submitted by a family member of a recently incarcerated person
For people who are incarcerated, phone calls are one of the few ways to connect with family, friends, and loved ones. Mail, visits and phone calls are an inmate’s link to their outside world. During the pandemic, phone calls became the main way of communication since in-person visitations (except for attorney visits) were stopped. Some correctional facilities have instituted some type of video visitation – but in many facilities, phone calls remain the quickest and easiest way to get in touch with someone.
Of course, easy doesn’t mean cheap. Calls in jails and prisons throughout the country are notoriously known for being expensive. In some state prisons, costs can run up to $5 for a 15-minute call. Connecticut recently passed legislation to allow inmates in prison to call for free – but that’s the exception. Local jails, such Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) in Boyds and the Montgomery County Detention Center (MCDC) in Rockville, see per minute rates closer to $1.15 for a 15-minute call, plus 2 free 15-minute calls per week (during the pandemic).
At both facilities, there are two types of accounts an inmate can use to make calls, and are made available through ICSolutions, the telephone provider. The first option, in simplest terms, is that the inmate uses money from his or her commissary account to purchase phone time. As long as the inmate has funds available in commissary, they can make calls to any number (providing the receiving party accepts the call).
The second option is considered a “prepaid” call. For this, the inmate’s family, friends and/or loved ones will need to establish their own account directly with ICSolutions. The downside/difference with the prepaid method is that each person the inmate wishes to contact must establish their own prepaid account with ICSolutions in order for a call to go through. This can become not only a hassle, but also expensive because each account has its own fee per transaction.
You might be scratching your head and saying why bother using prepaid at all? That’s a good question, and most of the time, an inmate will just use commissary to fund phone calls. However, every month or two, this writer found that the phones went down for up to 24 hours for those paying via their commissary account. It took a few times of this occurring and wondering if the lack of communication was due to a lockdown, a medical issue, or something worse before this writer decided to bite the bullet and get a prepaid. Although the regular account tied to commissary was never down for more than a day, not being able to receive calls can mean missing important information from lawyers or check-ins with family and friends. As a result, I recommend establishing a prepaid account with one or two key family members who can pass along information in the event the commissary account isn’t working. You can go to www.icsolutions.com or call 1-888-506-8407 to establish an account.
No matter what you chose, understanding the details of how the phones work in the specific jail or prison where your friend or family is incarcerated is a critical part of maintaining that communication and connection.