C2S3: Communication Methods
Prisons are tightly controlled environments, so there will be some differences between how you would typically call, email, or meet with a prospective hire and your Mentee. Fortunately, many of the same soft skills you’d use to evaluate a person who isn’t incarcerated still apply.
You will be able to communicate with your Mentee via email, phone, and traditional mail. The Redemption Project will contact you if and when in-person visits or video conferencing may be possible.
In contrast to a platform like Gmail, that can communicate with any email address, the prison email services are self-contained systems so their communications can be monitored and controlled by prison staff. Think of it as an electronic message board vs. traditional email.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons uses a program called CorrLinks to handle email communications between inmates and outside contacts. Using CorrLinks is free for you to use, but inmates have to pay for the time to use it.
The Minnesota Department of Correction uses a program called JPay to handle their email communications. Using JPay costs $0.40 to send an email and costs the inmate $0.40 to reply, but the Mentor can choose to pay for the inmate’s reply when sending an email.
To better prepare yourself for using and making the most of these tools, please read this CorrLinks article or this JPay article.
Remember, once your CorrLinks or JPay account is set up, you’ll need to log into it every time you want to send or receive messages from your TRP Fellow. You’ll get an alert to your regular email saying that there is a message waiting for you in CorrLinks or JPay, however, sometimes this function isn’t reliable. It is best to check CorrLinks or JPay on a regular basis to ensure you haven’t missed any communications with your mentee. There is a multi-hour delay for monitoring and security purposes.
Phone Calls
Although a lot can be accomplished over email, it can be advantageous to hear and interact with someone voice-to-voice.
You cannot call the inmate. In both the Federal and Minnesota State prisons a phone call is initiated by the inmate. Calls made to the facility will not be transferred to the incarcerated person. Inmates can place collect phone calls, which will charge the recipient of the phone call, or they may purchase their own phone time. Three-way phone calls or forwarding a call when on the phone with an incarcerated person is not allowed. Like all communication with your Mentee, phone calls are monitored.
Through your email communications, you can give your Mentee a phone number to call and arrange a certain date and time that works for both of you. An inmate can only make calls during specific times. In the Federal prisons they also have a 15 minute limit which makes using your time wisely all the more essential. This is where email can be a helpful resource. In addition to being useful in the scheduling of calls, email is an excellent place to plan what your call will cover and create an agenda for it. Planning like this also gives you the opportunity to include your Mentee in the process of making productive calls happen. That being said, if your call is at 9:15 am, schedule more than 15 minutes for it. We recommend 30 minutes. That way, if your Mentee encounters a delay, you’ll still be able to have time for the full call. Lastly, you may not cover all that you want to in your 15 minutes of time (note: additional 15 minute calls can happen on the same day). That’s okay! Efficiency with your calls and other communication methods will improve as you go along.
Patience will be integral to the entire mentoring process, especially with phone calls. It’s important to understand that your Mentee doesn’t have unlimited scheduling availability. They have jobs, classes, and other commitments in prison. Just like with your clients or colleagues, you’ll have to work together to find a time that works for a call. There is also limited access to and a limited number of phones to use in the prison. Depending on the time of day, there could be a line for the phone.
Traditional Mail
While email and phone may be some of the more convenient ways to communicate with your Mentee, you may find that traditional mail has its benefits too. Traditional mail has some restrictions too, but is pretty straightforward to send.
Mailing to Specific Prisons
Federal Prisons
FMC Rochester
FPC Duluth
MN State Prisons
MCF Lino Lakes
MCF Stillwater
As with all other forms of prison communication, the more you educate yourself about the process, the easier it will go.
In-Person Visits and Video Conferencing
In-prison visitation is starting to become available again due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, but will continue to vary from prison to prison. Video conferencing may become available too, but again, this will vary. Please let The Redemption Project know if you are interested in these communication methods and we will let you know if and when they become available. At that time, we will also provide you with additional information and best practices.