resources
Are you currently running or thinking about starting a Connecting Families campaign in your community? You don’t have to start from scratch. Based on years of advocacy, we’ve created practical resources to help organizers and advocates win free prison and jail communication campaigns where they live.
THE POWER OF FREE
Critical Connections: The Power of Free Communication in Prisons and Jails is the first systematic evaluation of the national Connecting Families campaign to make prison and jail communication free. Analyzing data from six prison systems and more than a dozen local jails, the report shows that free communication fundamentally transforms individual rehabilitation, family stability, facility operations, and public safety.
GUIDES
Ultimate Campaign Guide
A step-by-step guide for organizers and advocates leading campaigns to pass free communication legislation in their communities.
Implementation Guide
A brief guide for policymakers and corrections administrators working to implement free communication policies in their facilities.
Messaging Guide
A detailed guide for organizers, advocates, and policymakers working to make communication free in their communities — what to say and what not to say.
OTHER RESEARCH
We have rounded up some other research on the harm done by the egregious cost of communication in prisons and jails as well as the importance of community ties for incarcerated people.
