InmateAid cannot look up a specific individual's incarceration status on your behalf, but there are several free tools that can answer this question quickly. For federal inmates, search the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator at bop.gov/inmateloc using their name or inmate ID number. This database is updated regularly and will show current location and projected release date if they are still in federal custody. For state inmates, each state Department of Corrections maintains a public inmate search tool.

Once you complete your purchase, your new phone number is delivered by both text message and email, and is also placed automatically in your Account Dashboard under your phone lines section. If you have not received it yet, here is what to check first. Look in your spam or junk folder. Automated emails from new services sometimes get filtered before reaching your inbox. If the email is there, marking it as not spam will prevent it from happening

Getting the account set up is the right first step. Here is what happens next. Remember that the inmate must always initiate the call from inside the facility. You cannot call them directly. Once your new local number is active in your Account Dashboard, your inmate needs to add that number to their approved call list through the facility's phone system. The process for adding a number to the approved call list varies by facility. At most institutions,

InmateAid does not currently have a dedicated mobile app available in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. If you have been trying to find or reload an app you may have been looking in the wrong place and that is completely understandable. InmateAid is a mobile-optimized website that works directly through your phone's browser. No download or installation is required. To access InmateAid on your phone simply open your browser, whether that is Safari, Chrome, or

If your inmate is asking you to send money through Cash App, Venmo, or any other peer to peer payment service, it is worth pausing before you do it. Inmates cannot receive Cash App payments inside a facility. When they ask you to send money this way it is going to a third party on the outside, someone connected to them whose identity you may not know. There are a few reasons this happens. The most common is

Video visitation works differently depending on the facility. Not all prisons and jails offer it and those that do typically use a contracted service provider such as Securus, GTL, or JPay. Here is how to get started. First confirm whether your loved one's facility offers video visits at all. Check the facility's official website or call them directly. InmateAid's facility directory has contact information for over 2,500 facilities nationwide if you need help finding the right number.

Honestly? Five days is nothing. That is not said to minimize what you are feeling right now because the anticipation is always worse than the reality. But perspective matters here. Here is the advice that will get you through it cleanly. Keep your mouth shut. Do not share your story, do not ask about anyone else's story, and do not volunteer any information about yourself or your life on the outside. Nothing good comes from talking too much

There are two ways to see your incarcerated loved one. In-person visitation and video visitation. Both require preparation and both are governed by the rules of the specific facility where your inmate is housed. In-person visitation In-person visits take place at the correctional facility itself. Before you can visit you must be on your inmate's approved visitor list. Your inmate submits your name to their case manager who initiates a background check and approval process. This can take

Setting up calls with your nephew starts with understanding how the prison phone system works and where InmateAid can help. First the basics. You cannot call your nephew directly. All calls must be initiated by the inmate from inside the facility. Your nephew needs to have money on his phone account to make any calls at all. If his account is empty, no calls can happen regardless of what service you use. InmateAid's Send Money service can help you

When your inmate wants to write back to you through InmateAid, the process starts on their end with a physical letter written by hand inside the facility. Here is how it works. When your inmate wants to write back to you through InmateAid, the process starts on their end with a physical letter written by hand inside the facility. Here is how it works. Your inmate writes a physical letter and sends it to InmateAid's processing