Critical Connections: The Power of Free Communication in Prisons and Jails

For decades, incarcerated people, their families, and allied advocates have decried the high cost of correctional communication services and its destructive impact on society as a whole. But, in recent years, the tide has turned, and campaigns to not just reduce the cost of communication but make it entirely free to incarcerated people and their families have been successful. In this report, we sought out to evaluate the impact of these free communication policies, collecting, reviewing, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from six prison systems and 17 jail systems that have made this change. What we learned was remarkable: that a smile can be heard and change the course of one’s life. Across the country, when jurisdictions made correctional communication free, something simple but profound happened: incarcerated people began talking to their loved ones more often, for longer, and in more meaningful ways. These behavioral changes were immediate, dramatic, and sustained—there was a welcomed new normal. The result is nearly 600 million additional calls and 6.4 billion additional minutes of connection to date.