The Big Business of Prisoner Care Packages
By Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge, The Marshall Project
26 December 17
It's the holiday season, but many incarcerated Americans won't get presents
directly from home.
To stop drugs and weapons from entering jails and prisons, many corrections
agencies bar family members from mailing packages or bringing them during
visits. Those who want to send food, clothing and other gifts to
incarcerated relatives - at any time of year - often must go through private
vendors.
Here's how it works: Families shop from print and online catalogs supplied
by care package companies. Every item is prison- and jail-approved. In some
facilities, that can mean no glass or metal containers or no personal
hygiene products containing alcohol. Items are often contraband-proof, from
sealed food pouches to clear electronics to pocketless sweatpants.
For the holidays, families can choose from seasonal products; think red and
green cream-filled Hostess cupcakes and peppermint Twinkies. The Los Angeles
County jails' contract for care packages includes annual "gift packs" that
are given to inmates for free during the winter holiday season, complete
with a card from the county.
At least one program, Access Securepak, offers religious items including the
Bible, rosary beads and Allah pendants.
Prisoner care packages are part of a lucrative industry that provides a
range of services to incarcerated people and their families. Companies that
offer care package programs often bundle additional services, such as phone
and commissary, into one contract with a corrections agency. Keefe
Commissary Network, which along with Access Securepak is part of Keefe
Group, reported net sales of over $375 million from care package, commissary
and technology programs in 2012, according to a 2014 contract proposal
posted on the West Virginia state government website. Access Securepak had
over 125 active custom package programs nationwide in 2014 and was the
exclusive provider for 18 state departments of corrections.
Companies often offer their services at no charge to corrections agencies
along with a share of the profits. In its bid for the West Virginia
contract, Union Supply Group, which oversees Union Supply Direct, projected
that the state stood to earn about $95,000 in one year, based on a 17
percent commission of annual care package sales.
The privatization of services at correctional facilities generally leaves
prisoners and their families with fewer choices, forcing them to do business
with certain vendors or go without, says Wanda Bertram, a spokesperson for
the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit that advocates for incarcerated
people and their families and has conducted research on predatory practices
in the prison and jail communication industry.
Although catalogs can contain hundreds of items, some relatives lament their
inability to send a personalized gift. "We want to love the prisoner. We
don't love their crime, but we love them," says Julie Tyson of Morehead
City, North Carolina, whose son is incarcerated in a state prison. "It's
hard to do that through the calls and brief visits. It would be so nice to
send a pair of socks or something I went and picked out for him."
Perhaps because prison meals often leave much to be desired, food tends to
dominate care package offerings. Most snacks and meals are heavily processed
and packed with sugar, fat and sodium. (Food typically must be in
hermetically-sealed and tamper-proof packages, which rules out most fresh
options.)
There's often a variety of pre-made gift packs, like the "Heat and Eat"
package sold by iCare, a program of the stadium and schools food service
giant Aramark, that contains a quesadilla, soda and 10 packs of ramen
noodles.
Most food items can be stored without refrigeration and consumed in a cell
with the help of a hot pot, including dried ramen noodles, instant coffee
and mac and cheese. In some cases, the snacks - such as Big Haus Sausages -
are made exclusively for correctional facilities; other items, like single
packets of mayo, are typically not sold individually.
iCare even allows loved ones to send prepared hot food to inmates; for
example, New York, Virginia and Tennessee each have a jail where inmates can
receive an Angus double cheeseburger, a calzone or a pepperoni pizza.
The three major care package providers, Access Securepak, Aramark's iCare,
and Union Supply Direct, each have relied on incarcerated workers. Access
Securepak has used inmates to unload trucks, stock and pick items from
warehouses and assemble packages, according to a 2015 West Virginia contract
proposal. In its 2014 bid, Union Supply Direct reported that it employed
inmates to, among other things, clean freezers and manufacture clear
electronics sold in its package program.
"We deliver experiences that enrich and nourish millions of lives every
day," Karen Cutler, vice president of corporate communications for Aramark,
wrote in an emailed response to questions. Correctional facilities determine
the prices, nutritional guidelines and labor model used in their contracts
with the company, she said.
Keefe Group and Union Supply Direct did not respond to multiple requests for
comment.
Prisons and jails have long restricted the types of items inmates can
receive from the outside - nothing with poppy seeds, for example, or no
boxer shorts with patterns on them. And where packages from home are
allowed, workers have thrown away those that contained forbidden items. So
some families may consider ordering through authorized private vendors,
which only offer pre-approved goods, to be more convenient than navigating a
prison's byzantine gifting rules.
But others say sending packages through these companies can be onerous and
expensive.
Corrections agencies set different rules for how many gifts inmates can
receive and how often they can receive them. In some facilities, inmates who
are eligible to receive packages (usually those who are lowest risk and have
good behavior) can get a care package once every three months; at others,
inmates are allowed weekly deliveries. The timelines are strict, said Joi
Davis of Clarksville, Tennessee, whose husband has been incarcerated since
2003. "If you miss the window, even by one day, you can forget it," she
said.
Packages can also be limited by weight, price and item count. Many
facilities don't allow packages that weigh more than 30 pounds. Gifts are
often limited by dollar value; in some places, the cap is $50 a week, at
others, it's $150 every three months. The number of items, like hair ties or
sunglasses, can be restricted as well.
"It's a taxing experience," Davis said. "There should be other avenues for
families to be able to send their loved ones items that they want and need."
Family members also complain that they're often forced to buy their loved
ones basic necessities that should be provided by the prison. Jennifer Gross
of Livonia, Michigan, says she sent her boyfriend, an inmate in the Michigan
Department of Corrections, a care package containing toilet paper after he
told her he had gone without for four days. "We don't expect for all our
loves to be freed," she said. "We just want them to have the basic needs and
nutrition they deserve."
Price is another issue. Relatives say that some goods sold in
prison-approved catalogs cost more than they would in a store. At the very
least, the pricing of items can be unpredictable. At Franklin County Jail in
Pennsylvania, for example, a radio from Access Securepak costs $22, but in
Custer County, Nebraska, the program sells that same radio for just under
$13. At Arrendale State Prison in Georgia, a wire-free bra from Union Supply
Direct is $13.80; at Northeast Correctional Complex in Tennessee, the
company sells the same bra for $25.95.
Such variation comes from how individual contracts are negotiated between
corrections departments and their vendors. In Los Angeles County, Keefe's
contract requires that prices fall within 2 percent of the cost of the same
item at any three convenience and grocery stores within 12 miles of the
central jail; in contrast, Aramark's catalog prices in Santa Clara County
are required only to be the same as or lower than the prices in the
commissary.
In other places, pricing guidelines use the fair market price of an item as
a baseline and mandate that the prices stay within 10 percent of the current
selling price.
Some inmates have filed lawsuits against prison officials and private
companies over the cost of care packages, with little luck. In New Mexico,
an inmate sued over the price differences for identical products sold
through county and state prisons. In California, an inmate alleged that his
family suffered by having to purchase items exclusively through a private
company with inflated prices and extra fees, particularly for items that he
claimed should have been paid for by the prison.
The case in California was dismissed because the inmate was unable to pay
the court filing fees. The New Mexico case was dismissed because the judge
ruled that inmates do not have a constitutional right to goods at certain
prices. The judge also ruled that many of the allegations made by the inmate
could be brought only by government agents responsible for oversight of
private companies, such as the United States attorney general or the Federal
Trade Commission. In Mississippi, the state attorney general is currently
pursuing a lawsuit against Keefe alleging fraud and bribery in its contracts
with the state department of corrections.
Keefe Group did not respond to requests for comment about the Mississippi
lawsuit.
Despite her frustrations with the industry, Davis estimates that she spends
as much as $600 of her monthly budget on staying in touch with her husband
through things like phone calls, visits and care packages. "It eats up the
money, but you don't want your loved ones to go without," Davis said.
She has two recommendations for other families who want to send care
packages to incarcerated loved ones: "Have a budget and a lot of patience."
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