To hear it from corporate spokespeople and corrections officials, the tablets promised hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people across the country access to new forms of communication, information, and entertainment. New York wasnвЂ™t the only state to roll out a prison tablet program: Between 20, at least 11 other states entered into contracts with prison telecom companies such as Securus and GTL. JPay calculated that the profits from the associated fees would outweigh the cost of providing the tablets without charge in fact, with roughly 50,000 incarcerated people slated to receive tablets in prisons throughout New York, JPay projected a net profit of about $8.8 million by August 2022, according to the stateвЂ™s department of corrections. Roger got his in October 2019-at no upfront cost.Д«ut there was a predictable caveat: While the tablets gave incarcerated individuals access to email, music, e-books, and even games, all of those services came with hefty price tags. Under such circumstances, it felt like a blessing that in 2017, New York had signed a contract with JPay, a subsidiary of prison telecommunication giant Securus Technologies, to distribute вЂњmini-tabletsвЂќ to the prison population. For several months, Roger recounted, вЂњwe were literally locked in our cells, as if we were in solitary confinement.вЂќ (We are using pseudonyms for all incarcerated people and their loved ones mentioned in this article in order to protect their identities.)Д«y April 1, movement in the facility was restricted, recreation areas were closed, and visitations and educational programs were suspended. jails and prisons, Roger was serving out the final months of a 15-year sentence in Eastern Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Ulster County, about 100 miles north of New York City. In early March 2020, as COVID-19 infections started to spread in U.S. Email will be translated using a translator available on the JPay system.This story was published in partnership with Dissent Magazine. Per DOC Policy 450.100 Mail for Individuals in Prison (pdf), all incoming and outgoing correspondence written in a language other than English, including correspondence written in more than one language, will be reviewed. Additional JPay resources can be found below: Go to the Send Mail page for more information about sending messages to inmates. VideoGrams are limited to 30 seconds in duration, and are attached to emails you will send to an inmate. A VideoGram is a recording using a webcam attached to your computer. VideoGrams are part of JPay's Email service. Inmates receive their email according to a schedule set by their facility, and emails are subject to screening and delivery rules that apply to traditional mail. Because inmates do not have access to the Internet, JPay's email service works differently than your email program at home. JPay's Email service provides a way for friends and family to write electronic letters to their incarcerated loved ones. Go to the Send Money page for more information about sending money to inmates. You can also fund an inmate's media account so they can spend those funds on kiosk related services, like purchasing music, stamps, etc. This is also a service that allows inmates to make their community corrections and restitution payments. JPay's Send Money is a service that lets friends and family of an inmate transfer money directly into their inmate trust account. All prisons facilitate the use of JPay services. JPay is a private company the Department of Corrections (DOC) contracts with to provide money transfer and electronic media services for inmates and family and friends of inmates. New Vendor for Technology Services NoticeДOC has partnered with Securus Technologies to provide a consolidated contract for technology services rather than carrying separate service contracts for incarcerated individuals for phone services, media, and email services in facilities.

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