PLAN DE PREPARACIÓN FAMILIAR

This guide is informed mostly by experience with various forms of criminal detention in Kansas as well as Geogroup and CoreCivic immigration detention in Arizona and Georgia. This is not an exhaustive guide, and it isn't specific to one type of detention or one type of facility.

This is a difficult time for anyone who cares about someone who has gone to jail.  This guide will help you cover some of your bases as you start out, but there is no humanly possible way this guide alone can tell you how to cover all your bases.

Many people find that joining an online support group is helpful.  Advocate Jodi Calkins admins a facebook group called "Inmate Support Loved Ones of the Incarcerated" on facebook.com, and works hard to make this a safe place find support. She has been running this group for several years. Use anonymous posting if you do not feel comfortable, that is probably necessary for high profile cases (for example, if your loved one made the news)

If your loved one is in immigration detention, you will need their "A-number" or "Alien Number" to track them through the detention system as they are moved from one facility to another. This is the only way to reliably locate someone in immigration detention.

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•If your loved one takes any prescriptions, you may be able to bring those directly to the facility, as well as any durable medical equipment & proof of prescription. (spare glasses, a brace, orthopedic shoes, etc)

Most facilities will accept meds as long as they aren't controlled substances or other "drugs of abuse" (many facilities will not allow gabapentin or Seroquel, for example) Results vary for DME.  

Facilities do not always send medicine with the person being detained when they are transferred from one jail, prison, or detention center, to another, however, so it is important to learn what they will do before your loved one is transferred if at all possible.

*Why this matters*

A-

A common problem people have is that the facility healthcare contractor refuses to give medicine at all for a time period. This is not a rule for every single person, but it is common.  Frequently cited reasons are safety & to find a patient's  "baseline." At that point, they may switch out one or more  of a person's prescriptions with entirely new medicine. This is also often slow walked one med at a time.

BUT---If you can bring your loved one a 30 or 90 day supply  when they arrive at the facility they will be at for the duration of their incarceration, they can often stay on their meds while they are being temporarily detained because it's not any extra cost for the facility.

B-

Most detention facilities and healthcare contractors adhere to restrictive drug formularies in order to:

•reduce liability risk: To put it generally, it's very hard to sue a health contractor or for medical neglect; the tipping point in court cases is often "gross indifference to human life"-so if they know you probably won't die, they know you probably won't sue]

•lower drug costs:  only using generic drugs  or lowest cost medicine available.

•prevent facility residents from trading or abusing prescription drugs

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•Call the facility and find out how to stay in touch with your loved one and how to fund is or her communications and visitation accounts and also how to fund your own communications accounts if needed.  

If you are uncertain about their answer, ask them how to contact the right company: get the exact website, phone number, & the exact name of the app you will have to download to your device  download (if any)

-Most telecommunications in prisons and jails are provided by a third party "carrier" like IC Solutions, GTL (the "Getting Out" app) Inmate Sales, Securus, Homewave, and Corrlinks for BOP.

Each service is different:

Some let you access communications from your loved one directly from your phone's web browser or native phone and texting apps, others require that you download their specific app for everything.

•Many services will let you add money directly to your loved one's communications accounts through their toll-free number, website, app, etc,  

BUT

• Sometimes you have to make a direct deposit to your loved one's "commissary account" or "books" ---and sometimes you will need to set up yet another account and download another app (including verifying your identity) to put money on your loved one's books so he or she can use that to buy phone time and then call you.

-Some facilities give residents a tablet or smartphone they can use for text or email & even visits or phone calls.

-Other facilities might give access to these things at a kiosk, or not at all.  

No matter how they do it, these services are rarely (more like never) free.

Also, if you plan on visiting your loved one, either remotely or in person (if allowed) make sure you know facility rules about visitor registration:

Most facilities (or the contractors handle visits for them) will want some kind of ID, which you can often just submit electronically for remote video visits.   

***A warning*** Remote video visitation apps are notoriously buggy & often highly pixelated if your signal isn't strong and pristine.  

It helps if you are on a newer device or computer, and somewhere that you have extremely strong signal.   

You might want to see if the app offers you a "connection test" that you can try prior to the visit, like the day before.  

You might experience problems that cut your visits short at first.  You can get the hang of it (now is as good a time as any for a new iphone) but some people give up and stick to phone calls.

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Put money on your loved one's books. Your loved one will need "money on his books" to buy food, personal hygiene items, OTC meds,  supplies to write letters, or to pass the time, like sudoku, a crossword book, etc.  Some facilities also let residents purchase credits to stream movies and music when they are locked down all day.  

They tell me it costs $5-$7 per movie in the County Jail out my way.  

*•Why buy OTC meds?*

If available, your loved one may want to buy their own OTC meds because getting a couple ibuprofen from healthcare contractor's on-site  staff  can be like pulling teeth.  Even when your loved one actually had a tooth pulled. Some facilities are much kinder than others about this. Even so, it is 100% normal to wait 4-8 hours for ibuprofen when you hurt now.  Your loved one might also want to take vitamins, which are commonly available for purchase on canteen/commissary.

*But don't they have soap?*

Typical prison/jail/detention hygeine is this: some sort of heavy industrial sanitizer soap from a hand pump on the wall, and nothing else, to shower with, and sometimes they run out before everyone gets a chance to shower. Your loved one may have use of a single blade razor from time to time, which will have his or her name on it, and toenail clippers, which are often shared by every single person in a housing unit. In their cell, they will have a small white bar of soap that tends to leave a residue, a very hard bristle flat toothbrush that sheds in a person's mouth when it is used, or a "finger brush", a tube of toothpaste, a comb, and fairly ineffective deodorant.  

Sometimes something as simple as hair gel, floss, Old  Spice shower gel or Ivory soap, deodorant that actually works, and good ole Crest or Colgate goes a long ways toward helping someone preserve their dignity during these times. Also, your loved one will probably make use of all of it and be looking his or her best whenever they get to see you :)  

*Your loved one is going to be hungry.*

Everyone is hungry in USA jails. Period. Everywhere. This is universal. It's easy to spend $50/week on food alone!  

There may be as many reasons for this as there are facilites. Sometimes it's because the food is difficult to eat, or even ~unwise~ to eat, or portions may be scant; some jails only provide minimum calories to stay alive, and anything over is "extra" --- Some jails serve food that seems just fine, but everyone is always hungry, no matter what:

Most people in detention will need  money on their books to buy food from canteen/commissary, every week, for the duration, or they will lose quite a bit of weight. The food purchased from canteen may cause weight gain as it is usually highly processed and shelf-stable and of low nutritional value.

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Not as common, but some facilities make residents purchase their own socks, underwear, and shoes (or wear foam sandals) Residents will need money on their books for that, too, when this is the case. There have been complaints from ICE facilities that these items are often ripped or stained when provided by the prison so they were stuck buying their own from the commissary.

BUT

Some facilities might let you buy *extra* clothing or other items from amazon or an approved distributor and have them shipped to your loved one at the facility. There are usually rules and guidelines about what you can and can't buy: which colors, which clothing items  

Example of one faciltity's rules: long and short sleeved t-shirts: solid or heather grey, brown or white, no pockets; socks: white or black socks; thermals in solid or heather grey white or brown, underwear (surprisingly few rules? -no underwire for women)

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What helps a person in detention?

FRIENDS AND FAMILY: visits, phone calls, drawings from grandkids & letters to hold in their hand, texts, photos, emails.  These things are like gold to detainees. The luckiest duckies get to have a visit or a phone call (or 5) every single day! Sometimes, kids and grandkids can visit too, in person or on video.  

The best thing you can do for someone in prison or jail is simply be there for them, and be you.

You are precious to them, and you are the single best thing you could ever give them.  

AND there is more you can do:

I do not know where your loved one will be headed to, but my family was under a lot of lockdown, 22 hours a day. These are lonely times for anyone, so reading material can help pass the time.

An inexpensive way to give someone something to read every single day is to get them a daily newspaper subscription.

Many prisons, jails, and detention facilities allow families and friends to have newspaper and magazine subscription sent to their loved ones, as well as books (usually must be paperback books shipped directlyfrom a vendor, often your choice, but some prisons require specific approved vendors only.) As always, call the facility to learn facility rules about this.  

Note: When you do order a newspaper or magazine subscription, it's best to do that over the phone, because delivering a newspaper or magazine to a resident of a detention facility is different than delivering one to a mailbox, and even though you can fit the address perfectly using an online form, some large periodicals companies  actually have extra steps on their end to process these subscriptions that can only be done over the phone, and people have experienced serious disruptions and delays in receiving their magazines or newspapers if they are ordered online or the CSR doesn't actually process it correctly, so be very clear that the order is to a person in jail.

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A caution: 

Prosecutors offices often DO assign someone to listen to the phone calls of criminal defendants. They are looking for evidence. I do not know the specific practices for ICE/DHS. Be safe, do not incriminate yourself or your loved one or say anything that could be used against them in their case.

This is not to stoke paranoia, it is a simple fact of life, and it is best you know this to stay safe and increase the chances of a favorable outcome for your friend or family member.

I hope this helps.  

Much Love,

Ellen