SACRAMENTO — State Senator Josh Becker announced a bill on Wednesday to eliminate all telecommunication fees in California’s county jails and state prisons, a change that would rid incarcerated people and their families of the financial burden that results from connecting by phone, electronic messaging or video calling systems in state and local lockups.
“Staying connected with family and friends is integral to the mental health and well-being of all people, but especially incarcerated Californians,” said Senator Becker, D-Peninsula, the author of Senate Bill 1008, the Keep Families Connected Act. “Providing free communication with families through this bill can help incarcerated people remain hopeful and connect with resources that can support their re-entry, such as resources for future housing, employment and counseling. These essential connections should not be severed.”
Studies show disconnection from family and personal support systems creates mental health problems for the incarcerated and their families. Research also shows that incarcerated people who are able to keep in frequent contact with their loved ones are more successful re-entering society than those who have limited or no contact.
Fueling a $1.4 billion industry
But the high costs of keeping in contact drive more than 1 in 3 families, who already are financially strapped, into debt for phone calls and visits with their loved ones, according to a study conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic restricted in-person visits and pushed more contacts to telecom. Overwhelmingly, the study found, the costs of staying connected were shouldered by families, and 87% of the family members bearing the financial responsibility were women. The fees paid feed a nationwide jail and prison communication industry now estimated at $1.4 billion.
“No parent should ever have to choose between talking to their children or paying the family's bills, like I, and many others were forced to do while incarcerated,” Amika Mota, policy director for the Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition. “Prison telecom corporations have been profiting off our families and communities for far too long. It's time to stop gouging families and start supporting them to maintain meaningful connections – this isn't just better for re-entry success, it's also the humane and right thing to do.”