Families across the country are struggling to maintain critical connections with their incarcerated loved ones simply because they cannot afford the excessive cost of phone calls.

The impact is devastating:

• The prison telecom industry rakes in $1.5 billion a year, paying hundreds of millions in kickbacks to correctional agencies.

• One in three families with an incarcerated loved one goes into debt to afford communication services and visits.

• 87% of those carrying this burden are women — largely Black and brown women.

• Children are separated from their parents, and many cannot afford to hear "I love you."

Strong family connections and community ties improve facility safety, support rehabilitation, and increase successful reentry — or, in other words, they boost public safety. We should be encouraging communication and connecting families — not exploiting it.

The good news: states and counties are taking action. California, Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York — along with Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, and others — have passed laws making prison and jail communication free. A dozen more states are considering similar legislation, with more joining every week.

Tell your state elected officials to protect families and promote public safety by making prison and jail communication free.