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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2015)
Street Roots • January 2-8, 2015 C A P TIV E, from page 5 “Sometimes I forgo’ things at the grocery store.” According to Wilkinson at the Human Rights Defense Center, hiring companies like Securus is not how a government agency would traditionally fund its operations. “If the school district is running short of money, the school district doesn’t go to the parents of all the kids and say, ‘You have to pay $50 each because we’re running short of money,”’ she says. “And in effect, that’s what’s happening. The only people that are providing this money are the prisoners’ families, and in most cases they’re poor and least able to provide this money.” Jimmie Stewart, whose son Jason Angelo is in Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem, says the financial burden of her son’s incarceration is “very difficult.” Her son’s wife, a student, and his two young boys are living with Stewart and her husband in a two-bedroom apartment in Portland while her son serves his time. Stewart and her family absorb costs associated with putting money on her son’s books. Mill Creek employs JPay for account deposits, which, like TouchPay, charges a sliding scale of fees for its services. It costs $3.95 to send a deposit of $20 or less. This may not seem like a lot, but for someone with little means, it’s a hefty fee. Angelo’s wife has resorted to giving blood in order to put money on her husband’s account. Stewart says she’s been trying to sort out a mistake made by JPay in November. She says she fried to send $100 to her soil, and while JPay accepted the payment, the prison says it never received it. She says JPay has acknowledged the mistake, but by press time, JPay had neither returned her money nor forwarded it to Mill Creek. National studies show the majority of prisoners have at least one child under the age of 18. For some families, keeping the line of communication open between parent and child is important, even when doing so isn’t affordable. Stewart pays what her son’s wife can’t News Page 7 toward phone charges in order to make sure her son doesn’t lose contact with his sons. “These are important times,” she says. “His oldest son is in preschool, so he tells daddy everything he’s done in school that day, and the 2-year-old is just starting to talk, so now he can tell daddy his new words,” she says. They’ve done video visiting a few times, but at $9 per visit, she says it’s too expensive. Stewart’s son works four days a week on a work crew at the prison, which pays him about $40 a month, says Stewart - less than half of what she pays in phone charges most months. costs on interstate calls made from correctional facilities. Now, impending regulations from the FCC might also cap rates for local collect calls as well, which account for 85 percent of all calls made from county jails. The public comment period for the upcoming FCC decision ends Jan. 5, and a decision is expected by mid year. After looking at data from 14 U.S. correctional facilities, the FCC estimates that in 2013, more than $460 million was paid to correctional facilities in commissions off of phone charges alone. “This means that (inmates) and their families, friends and lawyers spent over $460 million to pay for programs ranging from inmate welfare to roads to correctional facilities’ staff salaries to the state or county’s general budget,” the FCC stated in a notice of the proposed cap. Costly contact According to MSCO’s 2015 adopted Before the Multnomah County Sheriff budget, it’s been collecting about $400,000 a signed the deal with Securus Technologies, year from Securus in phone commissions the prison communications leader had over the past two years, but according to a already been pulling in millions of dollars MSCO spokesperson, that phone revenue from Multnomah County inmates and their has decreased since the FCC put caps on families for years with high fees on collect interstate collect calls. calls. Under the 2013 contract with the The bulk of Securus’s revenue comes county, Securus, along with its from phone charges. If the FCC decides to subcontractors, has expanded its revenue cap fees for local calls as well, Securus and potential with the addition of inmate other prison communications companies financial transactions and visitations. Local might have to rely more heavily on other departments benefit with commissions. products and services for making money In Multnomah County, Securus charges from their captive consumers. $5.43 for a 15-minute local call. The Some consumers — at least those footing commissions made by the county from the bills — have fired back. phone calls go into the Inmate Welfare The Better Business Bureau lowered Fund, which was set up to pay for activities Securus’s rating due to the number of and services that benefit inmates. But over complaints filed against it - 443 in th e p ast the past two ffscal years, $92,521 w astaken three years. According to the BBB’s Dallas out of the Inmate Welfare Fund to pay for other things on the county’s agenda, such as and Northeast Texas website, where Securus is based, most complaints allege an Eastside Streetcar assessment The Securus “fails to provide acceptable product Inmate Welfare Fund was one of only a quality for its prison call services,” and that handful of funds diverted as part of a it “fails to provide refunds in a timely supplemental budget both years. manner.” Last September the BBB The phone charges on inmate families contacted Securus, requesting that it caught the attention of Federal eliminate the underlying reason for a Communications Commission. pattern of consumer complaints, but it has Last year the Human Rights Defense Center and other advocacy groups that were yettö receive a written response to its pushing for prison phone industry regulation request for voluntary compliance. Securus boasted record growth in 2013, celebrated a victory when the FCC capped TheTait Hom e Where senior and disabled adults receive the care and respect they deserve. Call us for more information (503)223-2144 1337 S.W. Washington, Portland, OR 97205 www.tafthome.org From all of as at Sisters, THANK YOU for your generosity In supporting our Together at the Table Hatching Gift Challenge! Mothers of Incarcerated Sons Society The three mothers of inmates Street Roofs spoke with for this story are members of the national nonprofit Mothers of incarcerated Sons Society Inc. Rhonda Robinson founded the group out of her Michigan home in 1992 after her own son went to prison. It has since grown to be an online support group with 1,800 members nationwide and 31 members in Oregon. MISS is open to anyone who has a loved one serving time in a correctional institution. “Members are constantly posting discussions regarding their financial burdens with high phone rates,” says Robinson. Her website hosts online discussions on different topics and serves as a source of support to people dealing with the pain of having an incarcerated family member. Many Members of the group are also actively advocating for changes to the prison system, tackling issues like mandatory minimum sentencing laws, solitary confinement and air conditioning in prisons. In 2013 MISS held its first national conference in San Diego, and it plans to hold its second this year in Michigan. .................. ............... ................ .............. . To learn more, visit: mothersofinmates.org and in a press release its president and CEO Richard Smith stated, “Our expanded product set of inmate phone calling, on-site and remote video visitation, data analytics, parolee GPS monitoring, jail management (IT Systems), location based wireless tracking services, interactive voice recognition systems - and 650 other products will allow us to grow and serve our customers well into the foreseeable future.” emily@streetroots. org Sisters Of The Road N o n p r o fit C a fe in O ld T o w n U P C O M IN G E V E N T S Jan. 19 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday - Cafe open as usual with special activities. • Jan. 21 - Meet at 9:00am for an action at City Council Chambers w / R2DToo - Reception to follow at Sisters! • Jan. 3 1 - 27th Annual WinterFolk Benefit at the Aladdin Theater! 133 NW Sixth Ave. 97209 All are welcome! Portland, OR Monday - Friday 10am-2:30pm g
