What Happens When an Inmate First Arrives at a BOP Prison?

The silence in the first few days after someone arrives at their designated federal facility is completely normal. It does not mean anything is wrong. It means the intake process is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

When a new inmate arrives at a BOP facility, they cannot make phone calls, send emails through CorrLinks, or receive visits until they complete Admissions and Orientation, which most people inside refer to simply as A&O. This is a structured intake process where new arrivals are introduced to facility rules, policies, programs, and staff. BOP facilities typically hold A&O on Wednesdays and wait until enough new inmates have arrived to make the session worth running. Depending on when your family member reported, that wait could be several days.

In the time leading up to A&O, your inmate will be meeting with medical staff and their unit team, which includes their counselor and case manager. During those meetings, the counselor begins the process of approving the phone list, visitation list, and CorrLinks email list. Family members are usually approved relatively quickly, but the timeline depends on the counselor's workload and the facility's pace.

Once A&O is complete and the lists are approved, communication opens up. Until then, there is nothing to do but wait.

On the subject of phone calls, the math on a local number makes a real difference over the course of a sentence. Federal inmates get 300 minutes per month. At the standard long distance rate of 21 cents per minute that is $63 a month. At the local rate of 6 cents per minute it drops to $18. That is money that comes directly from your inmate's books, so a local InmateAid line pays for itself quickly.