Nearly half of people in prisons are parents to children, and 18% of those children are four years old or younger. See how free calls help children. This is Finding 4 of our new report: Parenting & Child Development. Visit connectfamiliesnow.com/poweroffree.

When the cost barrier to communication is removed, families are stronger. 82% of families & 93% of incarcerated people agree free calls help rebuild relationships. This is Finding 3: Stronger Families of our new report. Visit connectfamiliesnow.com/poweroffree.

Families have already saved more than $622 million thanks to free communication policies in prisons and jails. That's money for groceries, rent, and futures they couldn't plan before. This is Finding 2: Financial Relief of our new report. Visit connectfamiliesnow.com/poweroffree.

“That’s one thing about these phone calls that you don’t get in a letter—you can hear the smile.” New research from @worthrises.bsky.social shows that when prison and jail communication is free, everyone benefits. poweroffree.connectfamiliesnow.com

Thanks to free calling policies, incarcerated people made nearly 600 million more calls, totaling 6.4 billion mins, than they otherwise would. Call usage jumped 80% in prisons and doubled in jails. This is Finding 1: Increased Connection of our new report. Visit connectfamiliesnow.com/poweroffree.

"Families who have done nothing wrong are caught up in this surveillance — their voices are recorded, databased and stored for years, if not forever." @biancatylek.bsky.social @worthrises.bsky.social #Securus #Rikers

"...Brooklyn Defenders warned of 'a community surveillance apparatus that reaches far beyond jail walls, sweeping up the families, friends, and communities of incarcerated New Yorkers without their knowledge.'" @bklyndefender.bsky.social #Securus #Rikers www.thecity.nyc/2026/05/12/r...

Communication shouldn't be a commodity. When our loved ones can make and receive phone calls without worrying about the cost, they experience more connection, real financial relief, stronger families, improved mental and physical health, safer facilities, and better odds of coming—and staying—home.

Over 330K incarcerated people now have access to fully free phone calls! Check out the landmark report published by @worthrises.bsky.social about the impact that free communication policies have had across the country. It’s truly amazing. ⬇️

New Jersey needs to prioritize connection over corporate profits. "We are lining the pockets by the millions of private prison communications companies that are profiting off of our incarcerated people and their families every day,” said @marleinau.bsky.social. newjerseymonitor.com/2026/05/11/n...

In Trenton right now with @worthrises.bsky.social to push for policy that puts families above corporate profits.

“I’m free, but I’m in prison.” More than half a million mothers are raising children with an incarcerated co-parent, shouldering the costs associated with incarceration, additional domestic labor, and childcare on their own. Read their stories:

Communication is a lifeline, not a luxury. Millions of people behind bars and their families know this, but a new report by our partners at @worthrises.bsky.social makes the case shockingly clear. Families should not be charged to keep in touch with their loved ones. ⬇️

We are proud to share a new report showing the impact of the free communication policies we’ve fought for with our partners at @worthrises.bsky.social. When we remove the price tag from human connection, we all win. Read the report at poweroffree.connectfamiliesnow.com

This is the culmination of 8 years of work, and I couldn’t feel more grateful for what we’ve been able to do at Worth Rise. I remember our first Connecting Families campaign in NYC, and our belief that this was right. Today, the data couldn’t be clearer: free communication changes everything.

In prison, the cost of a phone call made me think twice before making one. Incarceration was a financial crisis — every moment of connection had a price. Where I work now, we fight to make calls free for impacted families like mine. Our new report shows what a difference that makes, for everyone.

There are SO MANY reasons #NorthCarolina needs free prison communication. Improved connection, mental health, rehab, operational stability & safety (for all). poweroffree.connectfamiliesnow.com/assets/resou... #ncpol @ncgovernor.bsky.social @jeffjacksonnc.bsky.social @southey4senate.bsky.social

NEW @worthrises.bsky.social REPORT! Critical Connections: The Power of Free Communication in Prisons and Jails We analyzed data from correctional systems that made calls free, covering 330,000 incarcerated people. The results are remarkable. Read the report at connectfamiliesnow.com/poweroffree.

Okland Construction, Cator Ruma & Associates, and Elevatus Architecture are under contract to build Idaho's firing squad execution chamber. They can say no. With @deathpenaltyaction.bsky.social, we're holding them accountable until they do. www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/c...

The nation’s largest retirement plan provider Vanguard is also a major investor in the private prisons that profit from immigrant detention. Join us April 9 at 3pm ET to learn how your organization can take action to #DropVanguard. Register here: bit.ly/drop-vanguar...

TONIGHT! Join us in NYC for a screening of the Oscar-nominated film The Alabama Solution, a remarkable exposition of the violence and exploitation of our prison system using the only method possible: contraband phones. A Code for Connection event. bit.ly/nyc-alabama-solution

Prison telecom is a multibillion-dollar industry built on exploiting the isolation of incarcerated people. On March 7+8, join us at Code for Connection in NYC — a hackathon to build a free, open-source communications platform. bit.ly/code-for-connection

GOOD NEWS! Private prison GEO Group tried to avoid trial for unjustly withholding wages from immigrant detainees by appealing to SCOTUS, claiming it should be afforded government immunity as a contractor. The Court just UNANIMOUSLY ruled against GEO Group. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

New Tool! Find out if your representatives have taken campaign donations from the corporations fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts @theappeal.org @inthesetimes.com inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

Join @biancatylek.bsky.social tonight in Durham, NC, for a book talk on The Prison Industry at @scsjofficial.bsky.social with Dr. Craig Waleed as we discuss how we got to this moment and what we can do to change it. eventbrite.com/e/the-prison...

New reporting from The Prospect shows how both Democratic and Republican jurisdictions keep CoreCivic and GEO afloat through state and local contracts. These deals built the infrastructure now powering Trump’s detention crackdown and ongoing abuses. tinyurl.com/3tpkf99m

Excellent new report from Beyond the Bars exposes how temp agencies have become the default and often only employers for millions of folks with criminal records, and lays out a roadmap for organizing workers with records to win dignified work. Read it: Bit.ly/TheTempTrap

TAKE ACTION! Elevatus Architecture and Okland Construction have been contracted by Idaho to design a new firing squad execution chamber. Help us demand they withdraw from this contract to stop this before it’s built. THREAD

BREAKING! Predatory prison telecom giant Securus has bought out @broadbandbreakfast.bsky.social. They are now hosting a panel for the industry and have refused to include anyone advocating for incarcerated people. It's shameful paid propaganda parading as neutral media. It’s time to unsubscribe.

Today was a hard day. Regulations that we passed unanimously last year, after 7 years of advocacy, were largely gutted. The FCC capitulated to the correctional telecom industry in roughly doubling rate caps for prison and jail calls. I'm truly sorry. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

"Families will have to pay $215 million more to stay connected than anticipated last year, and there’s expected to be two-thirds fewer call minutes between families and their incarcerated loved ones due to the higher rates." @biancatylek.bsky.social @worthrises.bsky.social

"Families impacted by incarceration have spent years advocating to reduce the extortionary cost of prison phone calls. Tomorrow Trump’s FCC is expected to vote on revised regulations that would unravel" all recent progress. @biancatylek.bsky.social @worthrises.bsky.social

Tomorrow, the FCC is set to rollback a large portion of the regulations it passed unanimously with bipartisan support last year. Families will pay $215M more annually than anticipated. Worth Rises ED @biancatylek.bsky.social explains it all in @inquest.bsky.social inquest.org/your-call-co...

To prevent thousands more avoidable deaths, Centurion, Wexford, and Corizon’s deadly, profit-driven “healthcare” practices cannot continue as usual. theharvardpoliticalreview.com/health-care-...

NaphCare is part of a cycle of private healthcare contractors cutting corners, settling preventable deaths, and then declaring bankruptcy. Publicly run carceral healthcare isn't perfect, but it doesn't put profits over people. www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...

GEO Group’s chairman celebrates new ICE partnership that expands surveillance, putting detained immigrants at greater risk. For them it’s business, while lives are on the line. bit.ly/3IVSyWb

“The 13th Amendment did not abolish slavery – it revised it and shrouded it in secrecy.” @biancatylek.bsky.social's new op-ed on forced prison labor exploiting $18.8B from incarcerated workers. tinyurl.com/3py7n7yj

We stand alongside 15,000 people, 100 orgs, and Congress, urging the FCC to protect prison calls. Every delay means money stolen from families. connectfamiliesnow.com/stopthedelay tinyurl.com/57su8w64

Demand the FCC keep the rate caps they passed. Congress and over 14,000 families have called for fair prison phone rates — yet delays continue. It’s time to #StopTheDelay and lower the cost of staying connected. TAKE ACTION: connectfamiliesnow.com/stopthedelay bit.ly/4pvy8Ut

It should be considered outrageous that GeoGroup’s George Zoley pitches immigration detention and family separations to investors as a profit “opportunity” to boost the company’s stock. Yet this is seen as business as usual by far too many. bit.ly/3KbHzIz

¿Y dónde hay trabajo forzoso? En las prisiones. 'La esclavitud no es solo la historia del sistema carcelario estadounidense. Es su presente', dice @biancatylek.bsky.social Acá el artículo completo en @opendemocracy.net @worthrises.bsky.social s.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/es/democraci...

¿Esclavitud en EEUU en el siglo XXI? La 13 Enmienda que abolió la esclavitud incluyó una cláusula de excepción que permitía la esclavitud 'como castigo por un delito' Así se conservó el fundamento jurídico para el trabajo forzoso, cuenta @biancatylek.bsky.social en @opendemocracy.net 1/2

George Zoley, the eye-wateringly rich founder of America's biggest for-profit prison company, Geo Group, is an immigrant himself. So how has he become ICE's largest private jailer of other immigrants? My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91396722/the...

Despite being a billion-dollar corporation, Securus pressured the FCC to delay price caps so they can keep gouging families for their inflated ‘tech’ fees, exploiting primarily Black and brown families. bit.ly/462EcMB

URGENT! With the FCC poised to further delay or reverse caps on phone call rates for prisons and jails we need you to speak out! Tell the FCC to #stopthedelay connectfamiliesnow.com/stopthedelay @famm.org @colorofchange.bsky.social @antirecidivism.bsky.social

ICE’s 2M spyware contract with Paragon funds the direct attack on our rights. This tech allows the government to break into our phones and read our messages, calling it ‘security’. bit.ly/4gkiqr5

“Private prison needs more bodies to grow. Corporations have no place in any system that claims to be about justice,” @biancatylek.bsky.social on mass detention being treated as business. bit.ly/4g4qrQN

Securus isn’t pioneering ‘justice’ solutions. Electronic monitoring is just surveillance, controlling people, racially profiling communities, and fueling mass incarceration. tinyurl.com/yc388sp6

This breakdown of the $170B increase in immigration spending to jail and cage people now rivals military budgets of entire countries. “We’re in a dark place,” says @biancatylek.bsky.social. tinyurl.com/45azkrj5

Calling electronic monitoring 18M immigrants a ‘market opportunity’ is deplorable. Catch @biancatylek.bsky.social on Bad Faith discuss the prison industry's role in immigration crackdowns. youtube.com/watch?v=D1AFu06JdMc