The halfway house experience looks different for everyone and the path through it depends on individual circumstances that vary widely. Here is an honest picture of how it works. When you arrive you are assigned a room and meet with your case manager who lays out the rules and explains the pathway forward. For many people the goal is home confinement, which allows you to serve the remainder of your time at an approved residence rather than at the
Read moreWriting to an incarcerated person you do not personally know is entirely possible and more common than most people realize. People write to inmates for many reasons including offering support, satisfying curiosity about the criminal justice system, or simply providing human connection to someone who has very little of it. The most established platforms for finding incarcerated pen pals include Write A Prisoner at writeaprisoner.com and Meet An Inmate at meetaninmate.com. Both maintain directories of inmates who have opted
Read moreBeing transferred to a new facility always creates a temporary communication gap and it is one of the most stressful periods for families waiting to hear from their loved one. After transfer the inmate goes through an intake and processing period at the new facility before phone access is restored. During this time they are being assessed, assigned to a housing unit, and set up in the new facility's systems including their phone account. The approved call list
Read moreReceiving your new InmateAid discount phone number means your account is set up and ready. That is great news. However there is one more step before your inmate can actually call you on it. Your inmate needs to add the new number to their approved call list at the facility before any calls can go through. Until that number is approved by the facility it will not connect even if your inmate tries to dial it. Here is
Read moreYou will receive it in two ways simultaneously. A text message to the mobile number you provided during signup and an email to the address on your account. The number is also placed automatically in your Account Dashboard under your phone lines section so you always have access to it in one place. If two hours have passed and you have not received your number here is what to check. Look in your spam or junk folder. Automated
Read moreFinding an inmate's release date depends on which system they are in. For federal inmates the Bureau of Prisons publishes projected release dates in their free online locator at bop.gov/inmateloc. Search by name or inmate ID number. The date shown reflects good time credits already applied and is updated as the sentence progresses. For state inmates each state Department of Corrections maintains its own inmate search tool. Most include projected release dates or parole eligibility dates in the
Read moreRelease dates shown on InmateAid are accurate at the time they are collected from official sources. However like all database-driven information they reflect a specific moment in time and can change between updates. Here is why a release date might differ from what you expected or what you previously saw. Release dates are not permanently fixed. They move based on factors that happen inside the facility after the data was last collected. Good behavior and program participation can
Read moreEvery inmate in the United States correctional system is assigned a unique ID number and you will need it for almost everything including sending money, sending mail, and setting up phone calls. Here is where to find it. For federal inmates the BOP inmate ID number is an eight digit number formatted as XXXXX-XXX. You can find it by searching the Bureau of Prisons free inmate locator at bop.gov/inmateloc using the inmate's full name. The ID number appears in
Read moreThe short answer is that they do not know automatically. You have to tell them. InmateAid has no way to notify an inmate inside a facility that a new phone number has been set up for them. The responsibility for communicating the new number to your inmate rests entirely with you. When InmateAid delivers your new number by text and email, that delivery includes step by step instructions explaining exactly what to do next and where your calls
Read moreMaking a phone call from inside a correctional facility is a straightforward process once everything is set up correctly. Here is how it works. Your inmate goes to the phone designated for inmate use in their housing unit. These are typically wall mounted phones in a common area accessible during specific times of day set by the facility. Phone access is not available around the clock. Your inmate will know their unit's designated phone hours once they are settled
Read more