Question: No matter how good our RSAT program is, we know that post-release long term recovery will depend on the individual’s support in the community. As research suggests, encouraging visitation and communication with family and others while incarcerated is key to maintaining or developing those needed supports once released. However, our prison is far away from where many RSAT participants come from and will return too. Although they can make video calls on tablets provided by a private company, they are prohibitively expensive. What can be done?
Answer: You are absolutely correct. Numerous studies concur that incarcerated persons who maintain close contact with their family members while incarcerated have better post-release outcomes and lower recidivism rates than those who do not.
In lieu of personal visitation, video calling is proving to be the next best thing. Ironically, one of the reasons for this is that studies have found that regular video callers experienced a 40 percent jump in in-person visits from the year before, while very high video callers saw a 49% increase. In other words, it appears that video calling augments in-person visitation resulting in increased communication with famil and others. (L. Digard, J. LaChance, & J. Hill (2017). Closing the distance; The impact of video visits in Washington State Prisons, Vera Institute of Justice, https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/closing-the-distance/legacy_downloads/The-Impact-of-Video-Visits-on-Washington-State-Prisons.pdf.)
The problem is that video calling is a double-edged sword because of its costs as administered in most prisons and jails. The challenge is to develop a video calling system for prisons and jails that provide secure, technologically sound, video call systems that are optimal for the users, their families and the facilities that don’t bankrupt either. Happily, some prisons and jails have shown how this can be done. Ameelio, a nonprofit corrections communication company, has helped prisons in Iowa and Colorado install such video calling systems. And Nucleos, a public benefits corporation, has helped the San Francisco jail do it. Other prisons and jails have required the private companies that supply tablets to offer free video calls weekly or monthly.
At least 23 states have designated prisons and jails as “community anchor institutions (CAIs)” opening up access to the federal broadband funding opportunity made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The key to providing free or reasonable video calling in prisons and jails is for them to 1) provide non-proprietary, publicly owned network infrastructure within their facilities; 2) commit to enabling affordable and equitable communication services for all, which means giving up commissions from the tablet companies; and 3) invest in digital literacy infrastructure to promote digital adoption inside the walls.
While these actions go beyond what a RSAT program can do, RSAT programs can volunteer to pilot a free video calling program to work out the technological bugs and determine its value and effectiveness in promoting long term recovery and recidivism reduction. As an added bonus, studies also suggest that increased use of visitation generated through video calling also will cut down on disciplinary infractions for users. A 2019 Iowa prison study found that just one increased visit a month reduced misconduct by 14%. (L. Lee (2020). Far from home and all alone: The impact of prison visitation on recidivism. Grinnell College, https://loganmlee.sites.grinnell.edu/ALER_Final_Lee.pdf.)