Families of Inmates

In Georgia, this is nothing short of dragging the legislature into the TWENTIETH century, kicking and screaming.

I hope you don't mind, but I'm posting the article here:

Group backs kin of inmates
Relatives want greater respect

By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For relatives of inmates locked up in Georgia's prisons, the bureaucracy of the Department of Corrections often seems as impenetrable as the iron bars and razor wire incarcerating their loved ones.

Many relatives feel as if they are being judged for the sins of their imprisoned kin, when dealing with wardens, prison guards and administrators, even employees answering telephones. They say they face brusque or rude treatment, unresponsiveness to questions and uneven enforcement of visitation rules.

Last year, Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell), a member of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, was contacted by a constituent after prison guards admonished her for what she wore for a prison visit. Powell convened a public hearing, and others voiced complaints. Their concerns gave rise to Georgia's first advocacy group for inmate relatives, Fairness to Prisoners' Families.

It also resulted in the Department of Corrections' holding quarterly meetings, in which wardens and other administrators listened to inmate families and friends. The next meeting is Thursday at the Department of Corrections' central offices in Milledgeville.

Debbie Brumbelow, whose teenage son is serving a 10-year prison sentence for armed robbery, said she felt alone in her struggles with Corrections until she became involved with Fairness to Prisoners' Families.

"It really helped me, dealing with people who worked within the sytem, in teaching me I wasn't the only person who had to deal with that," Brumbelow said. "And helping me with the confidence level in knowing, if I can lobby at the state Capitol and lobby with representatives nose to nose, I can certainly deal with people in the system."

Brumbelow, general manager of a Catholic retreat in Sandy Springs, said she has learned that persistence is the best way for inmate relatives to help their loved ones on the inside.

"It's like having a child in school," she said. "If you want to know what's going on, what do you do? You get involved."

Not a prisoner lobby

With as many as 600,000 people on the visitation lists of Georgia's more than 47,000 prisoners, relatives believe that they have enough power to help shape prison policies.

The Department of Corrections already acknowledges making changes as a result of the recent show of unity by inmate relatives. For example, Corrections officers no longer are allowed to make judgment calls on inappropriate dress by visitors to inmates. An officer in charge of a shift must do so, Corrections spokeswoman Scheree Lipscomb said.

Fairness to Prisoners' Families stresses that its mission is to help inmates' families navigate the bureaucracy of the Department of Corrections and the Board of Pardons and Parole, not to seek the release of prisoners The group, working with Corrections officials, has produced a handbook to help friends and families of inmate relatives. Now, it is working with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to produce one explaining the early-release process.

During the 2003 General Assembly session, the group sponsored an "Inmate Relatives' Day" for members to meet lawmakers.

Legislators initially believe there is no constituency for inmate-related issues, said Sara Totonchi, a lobbyist for the Southern Center for Human Rights, a prison-reform law group affiliated with the family group.

"Once they receive a handful or two of phone calls or letters from family members communicating about their loved ones who are incarcerated, their eyes start to open and they become more open-minded about who all their constituency is," she said.

Necessities cost money

Positive family support also can be good for the prison system, said Marion Clein, coordinator of Fairness to Prisoners' Families. "Families and friends hold prisoners accountable for their behavior while in prison, encouraging them to serve their time peacefully and in accordance with prison rules," she said. "In addition, support from loved ones motivates prisoners to use whatever tools for self-improvement, such as vocational training or GED classes, are offered by the prison."

The group also is trying to change some of the prison system's policies, particularly those that hit inmate families in the pocketbook.

In prison, every visit to a doctor costs $5. Every time an inmate is written up for a violation, it costs $4. Inmates need money for commissary visits, to buy stationery, snacks, over-the-counter medicine and toiletries.

Security is a concern

The state took in $17 million in fiscal 2002 in collect telephone calls that inmates placed to family and friends.

Because Georgia is one of the few states that does not pay inmates for the work they do in prison, it falls to inmate families, many already poor, to pick up the tab.

Corrections officials say they want to work with inmate relatives to improve communications. Spokeswoman Lipscomb acknowledges that breakdowns occur but says the department does not try to thwart relatives. "We must be consistent in what we do," she said. "And we realize that."

The fees charged inmates are no different from costs incurred by people on the outside, Lipscomb said. Most of the money goes back into the system for inmate programs, such as substance-abuse classes, she said.

Many of the complaints about Corrections arise because of the department's mission of security, she said.

"We're trying to meet the needs of the inmates and their families while trying to protect the public from the people that are locked up," Lipscomb said. "Because some of them have committed horrific crimes."