Many jails and prisons have something called "inmate welfare funds." The funds are filled by payments from currently incarcerated people and their families as they pay for things like access to phone calls. And the money is supposed to be used for things like educational programming behind bars. But who owns the phone lines? And has anyone ever misused the money inside the welfare funds?

• We'll start by reading Prison Telecom Giant Offers Aid to Prisoners—for a Price
• Then we'll look through a story about a Sheriff misusing the money he received from those telecom providers in How Sacramento sheriff used inmate welfare fund for cameras, fencing — and a Tahoe resort
• And finish with a story similar to that one, but with a better ending. It's titled County must reimburse inmates fund
• Learn more about RLENTLSS, our new prison diversion and re-entry program coming soon to Atlanta
• Dive into more content we've created for the next generation of decarcerators at www.decarcerator.com

This episode of The Sentencing was recorded at the homie's Unmastered Studio in downtown Kansas City. It was ideated, hosted, and produced by Jay Dub--owner of JWA, an agency providing fierce marketing and messaging services to orgs interrupting mass incarceration.

© JWA | 2021