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Ask a former inmate questions at no charge. The inmate answering has spent considerable time in the federal prison system, state and county jails, and in a prison that was run by the private prison entity CCA.

Ask your question or browse previous questions in response to comments or further questions of members of the InmateAid community.

Subject: Inmate search

We have over 1.5 million active inmates in our database. 

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Subject: Family services

Yes, the Inmateaid services are available in the Will County Detention Center. If you would like to try something out, let us know (by email at aid@inmateaid.com) and we will send you a coupon code.

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Subject: Relationship issues

The simplest and most reliable first step is a letter. It requires nothing from him in advance, no approved list, no phone account, no prior arrangement. You write it, address it correctly, and it goes through the standard mailroom process and gets delivered at mail call. OSCI refers to two well-known facilities depending on which state you are dealing with. Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem, Oregon is one. Oshkosh Correctional Institution in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is the other. Knowing

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Subject: Inmateaid website questions

InmateAid maintains a database of about 1.5 million inmates drawn from publicly available correctional records across the country. That database gets updated regularly through a data service that pulls current inmate designations from state and federal correctional systems, which is why your husband was already in the system when you searched for him even though you had never used the service before. The information that appears in those pre-existing profiles comes from the same public records that state departments

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Subject: Prison discipline

Cigarettes have been largely banned across all prison and jail types. Federal outlawed them over 10 years ago and the states and county jails have mostly followed suit. As we write this, we cannot find any that still allow them. BUT, that doesn't mean that the inmates have stopped smoking. Cigarettes are sold inside for $2.00 each, the penalty for getting caught is a few days in the SHU.

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Subject: Send inmate mail

From the time you place your order, expect the greeting card to reach the facility's mailroom within two to three business days via USPS. InmateAid processes and sends orders daily, so cards go out quickly from their end. Once the card arrives at the mailroom, it has to go through the standard inspection process before being distributed at mail call. That inspection adds a day or two in most facilities, sometimes more depending on how busy the mailroom is

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Subject: Survive prison

You can support your inmate in a limited number of ways. You can visit, receive calls from him, you can send him money for commissary, you can send him magazine and puzzle subscriptions, and you can send him mail with holiday pictures that will keep him connected to the family unit until he's released.

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Subject: Prison jobs

Yes, they get paid a small hourly wage ($0.40/hr) but it's the highest paying job detail on the compound

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Subject: Inmate services & supplies

Yes, facilities provide winter clothing for inmates during the colder months, and court appearances are covered under that same provision. Most correctional facilities issue what is generally called a cold-weather kit or winter gear package when temperatures drop. This typically includes a jacket or coat and some form of thermal or long underwear to layer underneath the standard-issued clothing. The quality is institutional and nothing to write home about, but it serves the purpose of keeping people reasonably warm

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Subject: Relationship issues

Juvenile incarceration puts significant strain on family relationships, and in many cases that strain is both inevitable and by design. The juvenile justice system is built around the idea that the family unit is a core component of rehabilitation, which means the system actively involves family in ways that adult incarceration does not. That involvement can strengthen some relationships while exposing fractures in others. For families where the home environment was stable and supportive before the detention, the separation

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