Inmates and their families might get a little bit of relief when talking by telephone to loved ones behind bars.
Last week, Federal Communications Commission officials announced that they will cut the existing cap on interstate long-distance calls by up to 50 percent. The FCC also closed loopholes by barring the majority of add-on fees imposed by inmate calling service providers. Said fees can increase the cost of a call by 40 percent. The FCC also set limits on the few fees that remain.
Devin D. Coleman, a formerly incarcerated organizer with Florida New Majority, is pleased with the announcement.
“I applaud the FCC for taking this momentous step towards reducing the costs that families have to pay in order to connect with their families,” said Coleman in a statement. “Sometimes visiting is not an option, and the next best thing is hearing the voice of a loved one. I know from personal experience how vital it is to hear that voice of support, encouragement and hope from a family member. Because of today’s FCC decision, many families across the country will be able to change, overcome and heal together.”
The FCC’s new caps will reduce the average rates for the majority of inmate calls from $2.96 to no more than $1.65 for a 15-minute intrastate call, and from $3.15 to no more than $1.65 for a 15-minute interstate call.
The rules that affect prisons will go into effect in early 2016 and those affecting jails will go into effect in mid-2016.
The current rate caps for interstate calls from prisons since February 2014 are $0.25 per minute for collect calls and $0.21 per minute for debit or pre-paid calls. According to the FCC, these rates are equal to a per-call rate cap of $3.75 for a 15-minute call and $3.15 for a 15-minute debit or pre-paid call (including per-call charges).
Alicia Walters, movement building director of Forward Together, a multiracial activist group, helped co-author a report titled “Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families.” In a statement, Walters discussed how the FCC’s new rules will help lift one of the many burdens for families with relatives doing time.
“What most of us don’t know is more than 1 in 3 families we surveyed went into debt because of phone [or visitation] costs,” said Walters. “This FCC ruling will change that, and it is a win for strengthening families, especially in the communities of color and low-income communities most deeply affected. The impact of this vote will help keep families out of poverty so that their incarcerated loved ones re-entering society can have more stable foundations.”
Walters concluded, “Keeping families connected with their incarcerated loved ones is key to reversing the impact of mass incarceration on our communities.”
