The costs of incarceration are high for everyone involved: the government, inmates, and especially their families. This holiday season when you call Aunt Jenny in Mountain Home to say happy holidays, you'll likely pay nothing more than your monthly phone plan fee. Families of the over 18,000 inmates serving time across the state will pay 32 cents per minute, not including the fee to have deposited the money.
Want to see for yourself? Arkansas' prison phone provider, Securus, posts rates on its website (securustech.net/call-rate-calculator) with the caveat that rates depend on when the call is received. At 32 cents per minute (calculated based on connection fee plus quoted rate), Arkansans pay $4.80 for a 15-minute call. Meanwhile, Nebraskans pay 19 cents for the same 15 minutes.
Why do Arkansas rates rival long-distance costs of old? Because phone-service providers incentivize prison systems to choose them by giving the prisons "commissions." According to prisonphonejustice.org, Arkansans had paid over $2 million in commissions in 2017 as of April. They rank Arkansas 48th in affordability with 73-79 percent of fees going to "commission" kickbacks.
Considering that Arkansas ranks 46th in poverty rates and that the poor are disproportionately incarcerated, those fees are paid by our poorest citizens--usually the women and children left behind. How many families can afford over $1,700 annually for a daily phone call?
Why does this matter? Because decades of research show that an effective way to reduce recidivism is to keep inmates connected to their families. Even prison phone providers agree. In a 2013 court document, the nation's largest prison phone company, Global Tel*Link, stated that "Studies and reports continue to support that recidivism can be significantly reduced by regular connection and communications between inmates, families, and friends."
Furthermore, as we learned in this paper on Nov. 23, citing a Casey Foundation report, young children can suffer developmental issues when denied constant interaction with their incarcerated parent. The same report describes incarceration as pushing families into "financial disaster." Having lost a breadwinner, these families can barely make ends meet, let alone pay for phone calls. Similarly, the Arkansas Times reported in October that Arkansas is one of 10 states with the most cell-phone contraband in prisons. The Times notes that outrageous costs for phone calls are part of the cause.
In October 2015, the Federal Communications Commission set a cap on rates for prison calls, which would have meant families would pay at most $1.65 for a 15-minute call. Commenting on the ruling, Cathy Frye, an Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) spokeswoman, said it would cost the agency about $3 million in annual revenue. She acknowledged in a statement that "contact between inmates and their loved ones has been shown to reduce the rate of recidivism, high inmate calling rates have made that contact unaffordable for many families, who often live in poverty." However, she asserted, "The loss of these revenues will have a negative impact on the ability of ADC to provide additional improvements to the quality of life for the inmate population."
Ms. Frye's cited improvements included extra security cameras so ADC's prisons would comply with a federal law, the Prison Rape Elimination Act. She did not explain why paying to bring ADC's prisons up to federal requirements was the responsibility of inmates' families rather than ADC or the state Legislature. Basically, poor families would be forced to choose between an emotional connection for their families or the physical welfare of their incarcerated loved one. It became moot in June 2017 when a federal court ruled states can set their own rates.
Arkansas is sabotaging itself. An exploding prison population, high recidivism rates, and behavioral problems in prisons will not change if we continue to prevent inmates from maintaining the familial ties which motivate them to stay out of trouble, both inside and outside the system. ADC knows that familial contact encourages good behavior. In fact, they reward it by allowing weekly rather than bi-monthly visits for well-behaved inmates.
What can be done? Following other states, ADC can choose to take a smaller commission or none, lowering the cost of calls for family members. No other apparatus is necessary; no training or personnel. Yes, I'm asking ADC to turn down millions of dollars, but that money will be reinvested in families, and lower recidivism in the state.
These family members want their loved ones back home. Fifteen minutes a day could keep a husband connected and give his children back their father as a presence in their lives.
Saying happy holidays shouldn't enrich ADC and Securus on the backs of Arkansas families.
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Wendy Lucas is chair and associate professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas Department of History. Her views do not necessarily represent those of her employer.
Editorial on 12/11/2017