Written
by James C. Lowery
Photograph
By: Mikeal Karlsson/Alamy
Tracking
and monitoring inmates within a prison or jail is a constant challenge,
especially when it comes to overseeing their communication with the
public. Although frequent communication
with an inmate’s support group is encouraged in order to improve the probability
of successful community re-entry, there is still a large group of inmates
that continue to commit crimes by utilizing the inmate telephones. The safety of the community, correctional
officers and the inmate population is at stake, and it is up to inmate
communications providers to develop effective solutions to meet these
continuing challenges.
More...
Written
by Cyrus Heravi
Prisons across the U.S. are signing up
inmates for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, transferring a substantial
amount of inmate healthcare costs to the federal government.
The
Affordable Care Act is allowing
states to extend Medicaid coverage to
single and childless adults, a large part of the inmate population. This means
that standard inmate care is still provided and paid for by the states, but
hospital stays beyond 24 hours will be covered by Medicaid for signed up
inmates.
More...
Written
by James C. Lowery
An
Advanced Solution for Inmate Visitation
Onsite video visitation systems for communicating with inmates
have been available since 1995 using Closed-Circuit
Television (CCTV). But recent strides in technology and service has
brought video visitation into the 21st century. Online
video visitation allows inmates’ family and friends to visit inmates via
personal, secure Internet video conferencing from the comfort of their homes. The service is similar
to video conferencing programs people use every day, but it is specially designed for the correctional environment, with secure
video monitoring, pre-scheduled visit time allocations and the ability for the
Detention Facility to easily store, recall and review individual visits. Legacy recently
installed its newly minted remote video visitation system at the Dona
Ana County Detention Center in New Mexico.
More...
Written
by Cyrus Heravi
A recent Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) ruling 13-113 places a 21 cent per minute limit on interstate prepaid calls and a 25 cent per minute on interstate collect
calls.
FCC
Rule 13-113 Background
Like
most industries today, the inmate communications industry is experiencing a
shift in business as usual. The days of exorbitantly high calling rates and
rejected calls to friends and family who cannot afford a simple phone
conversation— these days are coming to an end. While we at Legacy believe
that affordable rates for friends and family is essential to inmate
rehabilitation and a healthier community, the new FCC ruling does present new
challenges for the corrections industry and the vendors who provide secure
communication services.
More...