Ask The Inmate. Real answers from people who've been there.

One of the most practical features of using InmateAid to send letters is that your personal address never enters the picture. The return address printed on every outgoing envelope is InmateAid's mailing address, not yours. Your inmate sees that address and uses it to write back, but they never have access to where you actually live. When your inmate wants to respond, they write their letter the traditional way, address the envelope to InmateAid's address with your name on it, and...

Walking into a detention facility with an active warrant is one of the worst decisions a person can make, and it will not end well. Every visitor to a correctional facility goes through a background check and identity verification before they are admitted. That process flags active warrants. If the girlfriend shows up at the visiting room with an outstanding warrant, she will be detained on the spot. The facility will hold her until the issuing jurisdiction sends someone to pick...

That is a very good point, but there is another side to it. Inmates that have a job and do actually receive a "pay check", but their pay is miniscule. They make about 12 cents an hour on average. If the phone calls are several dollars each, there are not enough work hours to pay for all of the calls you'd like to get.  If you are mad at him and do not want to pay for the calls, you...

You miss the freedom to do most any everyday chore. Starting with the morning wake-up, they turn the lights on at 6am. There is a set time to each, set time to shower, set time to have recreation... it's like you are a kindergarten child being led through the day completely supervised. You miss having sex, being able to talk to your loved ones whenever you want, you miss their life as you only hear about it. Also, taking a shower...

Every new or incoming inmate goes through an orientation period before phone and visitation privileges are activated. This process typically takes about a week, though it can run a little shorter or longer depending on the facility's intake workload and scheduling. During that window, the inmate is getting classified, processed, and briefed on the facility's rules and programs. Phone access, visiting lists, and commissary access all get set up as part of that orientation, not before it. If you have not heard...