New York state prisons stopped charging incarcerated individuals for phone calls starting this month. The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) now fronts the bill at a lowered rate of 1.5 cents a minute from service provider Securus Technologies. Previously, incarcerated individuals paid 2.4 cents a minute plus service fees to place domestic calls.
“We recognize the critical role that strong family bonds play in an individual’s rehabilitation and long-term success after incarceration,” said DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello in a statement. “By eliminating the financial burden associated with phone calls, we not only are removing a barrier to communication, but are actively promoting stronger connections between those in our care and their loved ones.
“Understanding the value of family ties while in prison is crucial — not only for emotional support, but for improving an individual’s outcomes while incarcerated and when returning to society, thus reducing recidivism.”
According to Securus, family members will no longer need an AdvanceConnect account and can request a refund for their remaining balance.
The free phone calls from prison stem from New York State’s Reentry 2030 blueprint, which was announced last year to decrease recidivism among returning citizens. Federal funding, as well as philanthropic backers like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, help bankroll the initiative, although the DOCCS operating budget funds the free phone calls.
Under Reentry 2030, free calls would lift barriers to outside communication, allowing incarcerated individuals to prepare for life after release more easily, such as arranging for housing and employment. DOCCS also credits outside communication for reducing tension and conflict as state prisons face increased scrutiny after an illegal corrections strike and the killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi by correctional staff.
Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, the first formerly incarcerated New York State legislator, long hoped for free calling from prison, which he recalled championing in his first-ever interview after getting elected four years ago. In line at Disney World, the East Harlem lawmaker sounded thrilled over the phone, not from being at the “Most Magical Place on Earth” but because of the news. He credited his state assembly colleague Harvey Epstein for introducing a previous bill on the issue and Martuscello for walking the initiative through.
“We couldn’t get over the hump for the first years in the assembly, so [Epstein] kept pushing,” said Gibbs. “I got a phone call from Commissioner Martuscello asking about how I felt about not giving up the legislation and allowing [him] to walk it through. Harvey and I agreed: We need incarcerated individuals to have free phone calls. It’ll reduce violence [and] recidivism, and it’ll allow these individuals to connect with their families — give them that additional needed support without financial burdens.”
Advocate Caroline Hansen welcomes free phone calling to reach her husband Kristian, who is serving a life sentence without parole at the Eastern NY Correctional Facility. She recalls placing around $100 to $125 a month in his JPay (Securus’s child company) account to receive calls from him.
However, Hansen maintains that DOCCS should focus on making in-person visits more accessible if the state is truly serious about employing outside contact toward rehabilitation. She pointed to the department suspending Wednesday visits and limiting in-person visitation to weekends for most facilities, due to alleged staffing shortages.
“I’d rather pay $120 a month and be able to go see him when I’m not waiting in
line for three and a half hours,” said Hansen. She added that their daughters struggle to find time for in-person visitation due to weekend extracurricular activities like soccer practice.
Gibbs also championed expanding visitation hours: “Any opportunity to get incarcerated individuals to spend time with their family, that’s a plus.”
Incarcerated individuals can place calls over traditional prison phone lines, as well as general population tablets, which boast a calling app and messaging service. Hansen said while the tablet connection can be frequently choppy (she said her husband often sounds like a robot), the new technology allows easier access because some phone lines “belong” to certain gangs.
Other Reentry 2030 objectives include ensuring people leave prison with a government-issued ID card and increasing post-release employment and educational enrollment. However, prison reform advocates still await Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature on the Prison Omnibus Package, which would shore up oversight in DOCCS facilities through measures like expanding surveillance camera coverage and bolstering independent watchdog boards like the NYS State Commission of Correction.
Organizers like Derrick Hamilton, co-founder of Friends and Family of the Wrongfully Convicted, took to Hochul’s Manhattan office this past Tuesday, Aug. 12, to call for passage of the omnibus package and roll out the new End Prison Violence campaign. He said that movement supports the state’s re-entry efforts, which go alongside the omnibus package and additional advocacy calling for more release mechanisms through the governor’s clemency powers and the parole board.
Hamilton does not believe the bills will prevent the endemic anti-Black mindset of abusive prison guards, but he maintains the legislation will ensure families can be notified immediately and evidence for accountability will be present. Multiple body-worn cameras documented the killing of Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility, which led to criminal charges against the correctional officers involved, including murder.
“Robert Brooks did all the work he needed to do to ensure he [was] rehabilitated [but] was murdered,” said Hamilton. “This is what happens when you give people draconian sentences and keep them in prison; [reform is] long overdue, so we can talk about programming, we can talk about things that make people whole in there, but [if] we’re not talking about making sure that decarceration is a part of it, then all of the programming and conversation [is for nought].”