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Washington Jail Turns To Pay-Per-Visit System

The company Homewav installs video stations in prisons and charges families for each video visit. The prison takes a cut. (homewav.com)
The company Homewav installs video stations in prisons and charges families for each video visit. The prison takes a cut. (homewav.com)

The American corrections system been outsourcing some of its services – health care, food, telephone and money transfers are some examples of services that are helping for-profit prisons try to increase their profits by cutting costs.

In some cases, this adds an extra burden to inmates and their families by adding extra costs. Reporter Rowan Moore Gerety looks at a jail in Washington state that has brought in something new: paying for web video visits.

  • Read more on this story via Northwest Public Radio
  • More information via Lewis County Jail
  • Reporter

  • Rowan Moore Gerety, reporter for Northwest Public Radio. He tweets @rowanmg.
  • Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.