Free prison calls are improving lives and saving families millions

For most families with incarcerated loved ones a phone call is a necessity, not a luxury. But every minute on the phone has a price tag, making communication rushed, transactional and short on connection.

Angel Rice knows the feeling: conscious of the strain on her bank account with every call to her incarcerated husband, she learned how to maximize efficiency in their conversations over the years.

But on January 1, 2023, thousands of California families, including hers, got a little relief: On that day, the state joined a small but growing movement of prison systems that have made prison calls free. 

“Now we can talk,” Rice told The Nation. “We can have in-depth conversations about finances, about how my day was, how his day was, what’s going on in our communities, with our children… We’re not cramped into [just] 15 minutes, trying to get life in that one moment. Now we have extended time to talk and be present with each other.”

The shift was first sparked by Martha Wright-Reed, who sued a private prison company in 2001 over the cost of calls with her grandson, a case that eventually led to federal rate caps under President Obama’s Federal Communications Commission.

Though those caps were challenged in court and later weakened under subsequent federal administrations, Congress passed the Martha Wright-Reed Act in 2023, affirming the FCC’s authority to regulate the industry.

But advocates want to see efforts go further, arguing that state and municipal free-calling mandates offer more durable protection than federal regulation, which remains vulnerable to legal challenges and political shifts.

Beyond California, five other prison systems — the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Connecticut, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York,  as well as dozens of jail systems — have eliminated the cost of calls for incarcerated people.

These policies benefit more than 330,000 incarcerated people and represent one of the most significant shifts in correctional policy in recent years.

According to a report from the nonprofit Worth Rises, which advocates for free calling, the policy shift has generated an additional 600 million phone calls and 6.4 billion more call minutes across the free call systems.

Families have collectively saved more than $620 million — with 70% of prison savings and 82% of jail savings going to Black and brown families, who have historically been hardest hit by the cost of incarceration. 

At the same time, those savings reflect decades of exploitation. Prison and jail phone services are operated by private companies like Aventiv or ViaPath which control nearly 80% of the $1.5 billion correctional communications industry.

They historically shared profits with facilities, creating a kickback structure that disincentivized systems from negotiating lower rates because they didn’t pay for the calls — call recipients did. 

As recently as 2021, a 15-minute call from a U.S. jail cost an average of $3.15, and an in-state prison call cost an average of $1.20. To talk, call recipients had to load a prepaid account with money.

But systems that began footing the bill directly renegotiated rates, which dropped 62% for prisons and 68% for jails, suggesting that families had been overcharged for years.

Excessive costs most hurt those who have the least: “nearly two-thirds of families with an incarcerated member are unable to meet basic needs, like food or housing,” The Nation reported. 

Studies find that regular family contact reduces anxiety and depression among incarcerated people, improves self-esteem and increases compliance with prison rules — effects that compound over time with consistent contact.

“It’s brought a calming effect to the [incarcerated] population.… Any way that we could make the job less stressful for our staff is a priority for us,” Connecticut Deputy Warden Justin Oles said. 

Worth Rises goes further, casting the research findings as a public safety argument. Incarcerated people who maintain strong family ties are significantly less likely to reoffend after release and more likely to secure stable housing and employment. Free calling, the organization argues, makes that connection possible at scale in a way almost no other single policy can.

For Rice, the free calls have meant her husband can be more present for their 12-year-old’s homework help and bedtime routines — the work of life that incarceration previously made impossible.

“Having these regular conversations allows him to be a part of her upbringing and make sure she has her father there,” Rice said. “Every time he says, ‘I spoke to my daughter today,’ you can hear it in his voice. You can just hear him light up.”

“This is a win for everybody,” said Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises. “It is better for the folks who are inside… It is obviously incredibly powerful for the families who are saving important resources, but also connecting to people who love them. It is changing the work environment for correctional officers who are in these spaces. And obviously in doing all of that, it’s returning multitudes to us as the general public, in reentry and public safety results.”