How corporations profit off family separation

For decades, prison telecom corporations have exploited our basic human need for connection by charging incarcerated people and their families exorbitant amounts for simple communication services like phone calls, video conferencing, and electronic messages. A 15-minute phone call can run as high as $8.25; a 25-minute video call up to $15; and basic emails cost as much as $0.50—or more with attachments.

Through these predatory rates, the industry rakes in millions of dollars every year from incarcerated people and their families, most of which are low-income. In fact, 50% of families with a loved one inside struggle to meet basic housing and food needs. The added cost of trying to stay in touch, forces one in three into debt, with women carrying 87% of the cost burden, and disproportionately women of color. All the while prison telecom providers and their investors get rich.  

State and local correctional agencies also get a piece of the pie. Correctional administrators routinely negotiate against the interests of those in their custody to collect hefty kickbacks on calls. The overwhelming majority of prison and jail systems collect a “commission” on every prison phone call, with some kickback commitments topping 90 percent of call rates. In exchange for these kickbacks, administrators sign exclusive contracts with providers that also protect the corporation’s own generous profit margin. Meanwhile, incarcerated people and their families, who make up a captive market, are left with an impossible choice: pay for costly calls or be disconnected.

Most of us, at some point in our lives, have experienced what it feels like to be separated from our loved ones. We’ve also felt the incredible relief and renewed sense of closeness brought by reunification—even if it was through a single phone call. Unfortunately, for millions of people across the country with an incarcerated family member, staying connected is much more difficult.

This predatory system doesn’t just hurt incarcerated people and their families, but entire communities. In addition to strengthening vital bonds between parents and children, communication with the outside world creates hope for people behind bars and encourages a forward-looking mindset that drives positive behavior and program engagement. Research shows that increased communication between incarcerated people and their families on the outside translates to reduced tensions and violence inside prisons, and improved reentry outcomes that advance public safety for us all.

“Our family was never wealthy, but we were doing okay before this. Now, we’ve burned through nearly all of our savings and retirement funds. My husband Paul, Jasmin’s step- father, took out a loan, and I had to sell my mother’s bracelet to cover a bill. We’re just trying to stay afloat…”

– Flo, whose daughter is jailed in Genesee County

What corporations are involved?

Prison telecom is a $1.4 billion industry. Correctional telecom corporations contract with facilities to provide communications services—including phone calls, video conferencing, and electronic messaging—to incarcerated people and their support networks. Layered on top of these services are expensive surveillance tools.

Just two corporations split control of 80 percent of the market for correctional telecom: Securus and ViaPath (formerly Global Tel*Link or GTL). A third, ICS Solutions, controls another 10 percent. All three are owned by massive private equity firms interested in capitalizing on a predatory business model. While their fees vary by state, all three charge egregious rates and rely on kickbacks to prisons and local governments to keep their contracts.

When calling services were first provided in prisons and jails in the 1970s, rates were roughly comparable to phone rates for non-incarcerated people. But after the AT&T breakup in the 1980s and the litany of 1990s crime bills that triggered a surge in incarceration, 90% of correctional agencies nationwide had contracted with the niche prison telecom industry. In the early 2000s, private equity firms started buying up these niche prison telecom providers and consolidating them into the infamous goliaths we know today, when nearly all prisons and jails contract with the prison telecom industry.

The results have been devastating, with some loved ones forced to spend almost $9 for a simple 15-minute call and many having to choose between paying for calls or other critical bills. As states and cities begin to pass legislation to eliminate these costs and federal regulation crack down on exploitative rates, prison telecom corporations have expanded into less-regulated services on digital tablets that offer media, including movies, songs, and games, at prices far above market rate.

Their corporate exploitation doesn’t end with high rates, however. Securus (owned by Platinum Equity) has been sued multiple times for illegally recording phone calls between incarcerated people and their lawyers. ViaPath (owned by American Securities) recently settled a class action lawsuit for stealing unused money from phone service accounts it deemed “inactive.” These types of abuses are numerous.

How are we fighting back?

Despite all the money prison telecom corporations have poured into maintaining this exploitative status quo, the tide is finally turning against this industry.

In 2018, a coalition led by the New York-based advocacy organization Worth Rises, a national leader in this space, passed first-of-its-kind legislation in New York City to make jail calls free. The following year, local advocates did the same in San Francisco. In 2020, free prison communication was included in the CARES Act for federal prisons. Then, in 2021, Connecticut became the first state to pass legislation making prison communication free. Since then, the national Connecting Families movement spearheaded by Worth Rises has seen growing momentum, with four more states—California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Minnesota—passing free calling legislation, and even more states are now considering bills to follow suit. 

In addition to passing game-changing legislation to make prison and jail calls free, advocates have passed legislation in Congress mandating expanded federal regulation of the industry, convinced federal regulators to lower rate caps, and blocked anti-competitive mergers. They’ve also worked diligently with investors, including both public pensions and private lenders, explaining the unsuitability of the prison telecom business model on both economic and ethical grounds, and urging them to pull out of the industry.

Combined with important narrative efforts that expose prison telecom’s predatory practices and their human costs, these strategies have significantly hit the industry, toxifying it in the eyes of the public, reducing its profit margins, and cutting off its access to capital. The industry's irreversible crisis became even more evident when recently Securus, the nation’s largest prison telecom corporation, defaulted on $1.3 billion of debt. 

While much more work remains to be done, this huge blow to an industry giant provides communities with a roadmap for fighting back and imagining a world where free and creative alternatives will replace corporate profiteering in the provision of important communication services.

This page was prepared by Worth Rises.