I am a step-mother of an incredible young man who is currently serving time at the Sterling Correctional Facility almost 130 miles from Denver. My husband was also formerly incarcerated. He is no longer incarcerated, but he served 13 years in prison. My personal experience in trying to keep my family together while suffering the tremendous financial hardship caused by expensive for-profit communications companies who enrich themselves at the expense of those least able to afford it is why I’m in support of legislation pending in Colorado to provide free phone calls to the families who are trying to connect with their loved ones in prison.
Not being able to speak to our loved ones is emotionally damaging, psychologically damaging, and mentally tears us down. I was forced to go into debt in order to stay connected with my husband, and while he was incarcerated I also had to make sure he could connect with his son. Over the course of five years, I have spent thousands on calls through the correction systems’ private telecommunications vendors. For many years, we had to receive these calls collect — meaning we only knew how much we were spending once we got the bill, though vendors have improved the process of purchasing time to spend with our loved ones somewhat in recent years, it is still an unfair burden that non-incarcerated individuals pay.
Although these restrictions on communications with the outside world are considered punishment for those incarcerated, the cost burden falls primarily on the family members who are not. During my husband’s incarceration between 1997 and 2014, he made 68 cents a day as his commissary, which he used to order necessary hygiene products, like toothpaste. He was also a vegetarian, and had to pay extra to get a vegetarian meal option. He simply had no ability to contribute to the expense of staying in contact with me or his children. That is the case for the over 16,391 prisoners in Colorado in 2022 alone.
My husband was incarcerated for 13 years. I ended up paying for so many phone calls, to keep my sanity, to make sure my spouse was okay, and to help facilitate a connection with him and his child. My husband was incarcerated when his son was two years old, and when my husband was released after serving his time, his son was almost immediately incarcerated at age 18.
“Phone calls with people in our life on the outside dramatically change the environment on the inside,” he said. “80% of the environment changed for me, with every call,” he’d tell me when we would discuss HB23-1133 – The Cost of Phone Calls for People in Custody.
Every year – it is Colorado families that pay the state’s private telecom vendor almost $9 million just to stay in touch with our loved ones in custody. Too many of us become trapped in a debt and poverty cycle just to ensure we have healthy connections with our family members. Over 50% of families with an incarcerated loved one struggle to meet basic needs, and 1 in 3 families like mine go into debt to stay in touch, according to the report from the Ella Baker Center. Black and Brown women carry 87% of the cost burden. I am still paying now for my stepson to call to stay connected to his father.
House Bill 23-1133 will allow families like mine to not go into unfair debt, worsening already existing inequities, as we try to keep our families together during incarceration. It will help families stay healthy and stable, leading to better outcomes when we’re finally reunited. Tell your legislators to vote YES on HB23-1133.
