New York will offer free phone calls to people incarcerated in its state prisons starting Aug. 1, becoming the sixth state to do so.
The change is projected to save roughly 30,000 families across the state an estimated $13.3 million per year in phone call fees, according to Worth Rises, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry.
New York joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota in offering free phone calls in state prisons, though Colorado’s policy won’t take full effect until 2026. New York, however, is the first state to implement the change administratively, without any legislation.
Previously, incarcerated New Yorkers were charged $0.024 per minute for domestic calls under the state’s contract with Securus Technologies and received three free 15-minute calls per week, according to the department’s news release.
The new policy eliminates all charges for calls made from facility phones or tablets. The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will cover the costs through its operating budget and expects to spend $9 million this fiscal year.
Some research suggests that incarcerated people who maintain consistent contact with loved ones are significantly more likely to succeed upon release and are less likely to reoffend.
The policy change also comes as the department continues to work to restore operations following a three-week correctional staff strike earlier this year, which has left thousands of officer positions unfilled and led to cutbacks in visitation, programming and recreation. Some facilities have extended officer shifts up to 12 hours and increased cell confinement to up to 20 hours a day.
“Understanding the value of family ties while in prison is crucial – not only for emotional support, but for improving an individual’s outcomes while incarcerated and when returning to society,” Daniel F. Martuscello III, the corrections department’s commissioner, said in a statement.
This latest initiative also aligns with the department’s goal of reducing New York’s recidivism rate to 17% by 2030. The state recently reported a historic low of 18.9%, according to the state corrections department’s news release.
The new phone policy also builds on other efforts to reduce financial strain on incarcerated people and their families. The department has increased the amount of “gate money” or money provided upon release from $40 to $200, eliminated work release program fees and expanded Wi-Fi access and secure messaging on tablets to improve communication beyond phone calls.
New York’s new policy change also comes just weeks after the Federal Communications Commission abruptly announced a two-year delay in implementing new rate caps for prison and jail phone calls. The rules, which passed unanimously last year under the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, aimed to significantly lower the cost of calls for incarcerated people.
Facilities that haven’t yet lowered their phone and video call rates — or that decide to roll back recent changes — can continue charging higher rates until at least April 2027. The FCC had approved rate caps of 6 cents per minute for phone calls in prisons and large jails, 16 cents per minute for video calls in prisons, and 11 cents per minute for video calls in large jails, though those rates may change again before the rules take effect.
–Amanda Hernandez, Stateline
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