Wisconsin prisoners can’t purchase gadgets attributable to contractor failure

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The net system Wisconsin prisoners depend on to obtain cash from family members just lately crashed, leaving them unable to pay for gadgets like additional meals and hygiene merchandise. 

The Wisconsin Division of Corrections contracts a non-public firm, Entry Corrections, to permit individuals outdoors of jail to switch funds to these inside. These transfers happen by means of the corporate’s app, web site, cellphone system, mail and in-person choices. However a number of individuals informed WPR and Wisconsin Watch they may not make deposits starting this week. 

The Entry Corrections web site and app show nothing greater than a white display screen and the message: “Sorry, the service you’re searching for is presently unavailable.”

Those that dial an Entry Corrections cellphone quantity hear a recorded message saying the corporate can’t take deposits on-line or over the cellphone and that it’s working to resolve the difficulty. 

In-person deposits at areas all through Wisconsin are additionally unavailable, in line with an affiliate’s web site. It’s unclear whether or not bodily mail deposits nonetheless work. 

Entry Corrections operates deposit programs nationwide, the Wisconsin Division of Corrections says on its web site. The corporate is a part of Keefe Group, a conglomerate that features ICSolutions, which runs a glitchy jail cellphone system that has left Wisconsin households disconnected in current months. 

A Division of Corrections spokesperson mentioned she was engaged on a response, which didn’t arrive by this story’s deadline. 

The Keefe Group didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark. 

Robin Guenterberg usually sends his daughter at Taycheedah Correctional Establishment $300 a month, with Entry Corrections gathering a payment. 

His daughter, who he requested not be publicly named, makes use of most of that cash to purchase gadgets  from the jail’s commissary. She has a continual well being situation and depends on commissary hen and tuna packets to complement often offered meals, Guenterberg mentioned. 

The daughter has misplaced greater than 20 kilos since getting into jail late final yr, Guenterberg mentioned, including that he and his spouse buy merchandising machine gadgets throughout visits and make further deposits to assist their daughter preserve a wholesome weight. 

If Entry Corrections fails to rapidly restart deposits, she could lack funds to put a commissary order for subsequent week, Guenterberg mentioned.

Sarah Liebzeit efficiently added funds to her incarcerated son’s account late Monday evening. However points together with his prison-provided digital pill have prevented him from spending it at Stanley Correctional Establishment, she mentioned.

“That is now one other challenge as a result of the tablets have been simply horrible,” Liebzeit mentioned. 

Some incarcerated individuals work low-wage jobs inside their jail. Their pay falls in need of overlaying cellphone calls, additional meals, hygiene merchandise and medical co-pays with out outdoors deposits, a number of members of the family informed WPR and Wisconsin Watch. 

Nicole Johnson mentioned her incarcerated boyfriend earns $20 each two weeks at his Dodge Correctional Establishment job. Wisconsin’s typical copay cost of $7.50 per face-to-face medical go to is among the many highest within the nation — greater than half of his weekly earnings. 

Johnson mentioned she tries so as to add $50 to her boyfriend’s account twice a month so he should buy rice and beans to complement often offered meals. 

“It’s simply how I deal with him proper now,” she mentioned.

The Entry Corrections crash, she added, “makes me unhappy as a result of I don’t need him to be hungry all freaking week.”

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