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WNYT-TV
Inmates at Greene Correctional Institution in Coxsackie, N.Y., staff a state Department of Motor Vehicles call center.
When you call a company or government agency for help, there's a good chance the person on the other end of the line is a prison inmate.
The federal government calls it "the best-kept secret in outsourcing" — providing inmates to staff call centers and other services in both the private and public sectors.
The U.S. government, through a 75-year-old program called Federal Prison Industries, makes about $750 million a year providing prison labor, federal records show. The great majority of those contracts are with other federal agencies for services as diverse as laundry, construction, data conversion and manufacture of emergency equipment.
But the program also markets itself to businesses under a different name, Unicor, providing commercial market and product-related services. Unicor made about $10 million from "other agencies and customers" in the first six months of fiscal year 2011 (the most recent period for which official figures are available), according to an msnbc.com analysis of its sales records.
The Justice Department and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons don't break down which companies they do business with. But Unicor said inmates provide private call center service, including data review and sales lead generation, for "some of the top companies in America" under a federal mandate to help companies repatriate jobs they have outsourced overseas.
In a fact sheet, Unicor asserts that prisoners in the program are less likely to re-offend and are better trained for full-time work upon release. All revenue goes back into the program, which "operates at no cost to the taxpayer," it says.
The idea has filtered down to some of the states, among them Georgia, Arizona and New York.
When New York residents call the Department of Motor Vehicles, for example, they might get an inmate at Greene Correctional Institution in Coxsackie, near Albany, or at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women near White Plains, on the border with Connecticut.
"Obviously, it saves taxpayer dollars," Brian Fischer, commissioner of the state Corrections and Community Supervision Department, told NBC station WNYT of Albany. "Number two, it provides what we call a transferable skill."
Besides saving the state money, said Elizabeth Glazer, the state's deputy secretary for public safety, the program is "an investment in our state's overall safety."
"When we help offenders build the workforce skills necessary to find viable employment after incarceration, we lessen the chances they will reoffend and end up back in the state's prison system," she said.
The corrections department acknowledged that callers aren't told they're talking to a state prisoner. But they stressed that callers are protected — no personal information is displayed to the prisoners, who don't have access to computers, officials said.
In the private sector, states usually partner with business-to-business firms to run the services — the companies provide the equipment and facilities, and the state provides the labor. One such firm is Televerde, a Phoenix company that partners with the Arizona prison system to provide marketing services for major companies that have included Hitachi and Microsoft.
In a marketing paper, Microsoft says companies like Televerde "can reduce the burden on corporate marketing and local marketing teams can have more meaningful interactions with their customers." (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC News.)
For inmates, the appeal isn't the pay, which can be as low as 50 cents an hour. It's the training and the opportunity: "A lot of times, we need to feel like we are appreciated, and it builds self-esteem," John Howard of Brooklyn, N.Y., an inmate at Greene, told WNYT.
"It allows me the opportunity to speak to different people of different nationalities, regardless of what ethnicity, and it makes me feel like 'Wow, I can do better,'" he said.
Read the original story at WNYT.com
But Danny Donohue president of the New York Civil Service Employees Association, criticized the program for prioritizing marketable skills for prisoners over providing jobs to "law-abiding citizens."
It's "a bad idea generally and even worse considering the current economy," Donohue said.
By M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com and Bill Lambdin of WNYT-TV in Albany, N.Y. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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You can only choose between competitive choices. "law abiding citizens" at $7+/hr is not a competitive choice when compared to outsourcing. Take what you can get.
Great ideas to let inmates handle call center. We have been outsource to India or outside of the U.S. for years.
Having been victimized by one such call center inmate, as in, having this individual, (as well as several others), hatch some elaborate, debit/credit card scam, which wiped out the checking accounts of hundreds of innocent victims, namely ME..I am not so on board with this.
Imagine my surprise when I was informed that the culprits were inmates, and already incarcerated, after having to file police reports in two states, and go through all the hassle that one is forced to deal with after having had their personal information compromised. In my case, these convicts were serving time for fraud, and credit card theft. And they were allowed to have free range..to just rip people off? Six hours of computer time? Phone systems..the world-wide-web..? Those criminals were allowed to ask for home address, and other personal identifying information from the callers. Are you kidding? Ridiculous!
None of us should have to conduct business (whether it's tech support, customer service, sales..whatever) with convicted felons. I'm certain there are other tasks that an inmate can do while serving his/her sentence that do not include dealing directly with the unsuspecting public..and (in my case) stealing from them. I, and other victims, were contacted by the attorneys for the criminals who stole from me, and they offered a laughable 'settlement', so their clients wouldn't have additional time tacked on for their crime(s). PLEASE!
Whatever happened to cleaning up the litter on freeways and making license plates? I'm not saying bring back the 'chain gang', but phoning tech support or customer service agents, and discussing ones account information and other personal details should never be considered. This isn't about what the hourly minimum wage is, or if it covers their housing, medical, optical, dental, and mental health care..their clothing, three meals per day, their toiletries, their library..their advanced educations.. Come ON! If one has been convicted of stealing or defrauding others then they should not be allowed to be in a position where they can continue to do so.
I'm curious how and why it is that some of the contributors have such an issue with the call centers located in other areas of the world..at least they are (presumably) screened, trained, and are skilled at their positions. We are not reaching a prison in India..these are law-abiding people who are working hard. I have a much bigger problem with the powers that be allowing convicted felons to work in call centers, than I have with them simply going abroad and out-sourcing.
The next time you phone tech support for your malfunctioning mobile or laptop..and they start asking you to confirm your pass code or address, etc..then you'll realize how dicey this is.
Have to agree with Danny Donohue, these jobs should be for law-abiding out of work americans. Apparently, it is easier to find a job if you're in prison then if you're not.
However, these jobs don't pay enough for somebody that must provide their own shelter and food. These private companies are paying around $3.00 an hour, the equivelant of what they paid to 'offshore' workers. They don't have to provide benefits either so how much is the taxpayer really saving? I'm all for rehabilitation but privitization of Prisons is top priorty for ALEC and the 1%'rs who write these laws and pass them. It is costing us anywhere from $38,000 to $60,000 to house and provide 'benefits' to a single prisoner for 1 year, that is more then the average family of four is making. This type of backdoor 'worker' is exactly why we have millions out of work. The HB-1 Visa program facilitates this type of thing by allowing the 1%'rs to bring their outsourced workers to the US, pay them 1/2 the salary and they agree to work for no benefits. The 'Worker' mentality is what they want, not Employees. The 'illusion' of saving 'taxpayer' money is about as solid as the illusion that 1%'rs are 'Job Creators.' Don't make me cry!
and we complain about slave labor in some overseas country's; the inmates also have to kick back as much as 50% of what they earn to the prison system for such luxury's as food, medical, towels, clothing and a bed to sleep in; they also mine a lot of information about households, travel habits , and when a home is empty; we are now and have been for many years a CORPORATE GOVERNMENT.
I, too,, agree with Donohue. Of course it would mean the corporate fat cats would have to give up some of their outrageous salaries and benefits, so you know that won't happen. I'm horrified about the idea of giving so much as my (first) name to a prisoner-whether they have a computer or not!
It is time we return to state-run prisons and jails, and stop privatizing every bloody thing in the country. I have been saying for 30+ years now that we're heading for the American version of the French revolution and I see it getting closerevery day. The 1% seem to be trying to drive the world back to the days of gladiators and peasants, with only the wealthy having anything and controling everything. Joe Arpaio is looking better and better; come to think of it, so is Ron Paul.
So the Federal Government sets a law for minimum wage that carries major fines if anyone breaks them. And lookie, lookie at just who is breaking them, The Federal Government. Now I know what all those FEMA camps are for, re-education camps for us all to make a big whopping 50 cents an hour.
"When a man lies he murders
Some part of the world
These are the pale deaths
Which men miscall their lives
All this I cannot bear
To witness any longer
Cannot the kingdom of salvation
Take me home" Cliff Burton - Metallica
ummmm lets see, $0.50 pay....$17.00hr pay. if it saves us money let them do it. if you think these companies will pay for your unionised labor bullcrap guess again....like they said, this is a job that usually is done where? OVER SEAS. that means NOT in the US. use your heads.
@Mossdog: You do realize that it's your own throat you slit with this slavish worship of our uncaring ruling class masters, right?
You know when slaves left the south into freedom, they weren't employable because of past conditions of servitude. Interesting, 21st century blacks held in bondage have the same problem, unemployable for reasons of moral turpitude. Before you go into the usual racist "Im-not-a-racist" rant, read a history book.
Actions not usually illegal or frowned on until blacks begin to do it:
Shoe-shining
Drug Use
Sagging pants
Being poor
accepting or seeking political donations
Doing good work
Not working at all
There are thousands more, racism is fairly broad.
(coincidentally slaves were the same race as most prisoners, but it's justifiable as 18th and 19th century slave masters, current voters and current corporations agree)
unlike some such as
Anarcho Cynicalist
i have to question, what kind of exsperiance is you have to make such an ASSumption? I find it almost to the point of amuseing when some people talk of something they have never done, or have little to NO time in doing...WORK. Even better, have a clue as to who makes out doing what. Start looking in your Whitehouse from congress all the way up to comander in chief. you very people point fingers in directions, and all of them the wrong ones. look at how close the gov represenitves all of them are to wall street, and how many of them are among the"1%".
you do little to no research into a subject other than the blithering from source you prefer to hear news from. its all BS. Look into the amount of $$ we, yes WE the people paid to be brainwashed, by propaganda. BP has nothing compaired to the amount WE pay for a regular brainwash.
you see it IS all about money no matter how you look at it, but you lok in the wrong places. they dont want you to look, they didnt want you to see the healthcare debate live. why? thats just 1. its all smoke and mirrors. WallStreet put the crush on small buisness with its greed, and the whole mess with the employment as it is was deliberate, and not random faults that may or may not have been prevented. We have another unaccountable for czar. unaccountable in a "transparent government"? if the person is good at a job they are doing, there should be no reason for such immunity.
you "think" you know something? ya... give it another 10-15 yrs kids, and then tell me the same thing.
Modern slavery...
If the people choose to hang out in their cell or the yard instead of be in the call center, I'm sure the warden will allow it. Have you bothered asking the inmates if they prefer time in the rec room over desks and headsets?
I LOVE how working a cell center is called "slavery" now. LOL Get real. Want to know about slavery? Read Frederick Douglass' autobiography.
The chain gang without the chains and guards on horseback toting shotguns. They should be paid better. With the extra pay going into a account so they have some resources to rely on when they get out.
Yup. Slave labor. And Michael slavery comes in many forms much like evil.
bull crap, it is a way to help them interact better once they are released. you guys cry about these guys sitting for crap sentences, like possesion of an oz or better, but these are the same people who get these jobs. someone who made that one wrong turn in life, and learned his/her lesson... it must be some of you are afraid you might have one less thing to greip about? it saves us, THE TAXPAYER MONEY on rehabilitaion efforts. not every criminal is a repeat offender, but why make it harder for them to better than the next guy? who cares what you think is just for one and not the other... thats what we have LAWS FOR! You same people gloat how right you are when someone has so much as a traffic ticket they are guilty of any heinous crime imaginable. and worst of all, you judge people by looks... and you think you have the capacity to even think of a measurable form of punishment? you can not be serious!?
Every man woman and child on this planet makes a mistake, some worse than others. some laws we do not like, and i can agree with most on some, but they are laws, and when broken you get punished. outside of idiot clemnacys we see made every year almost it astounds me, the way they go about it. those i do not agree with. dont forget, some of these people, most of them i would imagine have a debt amount to pay for restitution, and damages and so on to victims, and the courts. why cry about money if you dont know how to save it?
There's some sense in that. In other cases, the money might go toward child support--the children of prisoners are innocent and don't deserve to live in poverty if a parent is able to earn enough to make a difference to their lives. Nobody ever thinks about THEM.
The more we make putting people in jail a profitable enterprise, the more we will lock up needlessly in our idiotic war on drugs.
Granted there must be some common sense applied. People convicted of home invasion crimes shouldn't be allowed to work in call centers.
For private companies this IMO is just as bad as outsourcing overseas...It takes jobs away from law abiding Americans who need employment. I am OK with the federal government using inmates since it would be my tax dollars paying for the private sector labor.
...unless of course, their eyes are too close together!
skunky-shoes; you need to go to Oregon and see all the minimum facilities that use inmates for labor. No one in the public would do 99.9% of the jobs they perform, especially when it comes to forest fires and the clean up afterwards.
Now I know another reason not to answer 800 numbers.
This is B.S. Plenty of people that will work, even for minimum wage, that have kids to feed, rent to pay, medical expenses etc. Prison is supposed to be punishment, not a social endeavor to TRY to rehabilitate some criminal that is B.Sing the system just so he/she can sit on their arse and use a con (pun intended) to con people for some already muliti million dollar corp.
They will be getting out sooner or later at some point. They will need work experience. Give them state miniumum wage, but use most of the money to support the prisoner's own children and/or make restitution to the victims.
It's true, many will. Due to the unnecessary drug war, the corporations are now able to take advantage of the the descendants of 19th century slaves. What's needed is an emancipation effort. It's easily done, end the drug war and not allow a new similar incarceration excuse to start.
I believe the new excuse for incarcerating blacks is indecent exposure for sagging pants. If that one is stopped, the excuse to follow must be stopped as well.
Slavery is alive and well and thriving in America. Ever hear the one about the chickens coming home to roost. Its losing its flavor now that some thirty million whites are reduced to slave wages. Same thing with drugs, no one cared when it was almost exclusively a black problem. Now we have more white addicts by three to one over blacks and drugs is now a problem. The real problem is the power structure who knows how to use or manipulate any situation to their advantage. Wages getting to high, double whammy, out source and open the borders, forty million people looking for ten million jobs which pay company store wages. In case you don't know about this, everything you need must be bought at the company store at inflated prices, you end up further in the hole with each days pay. GM once employed 450K workers in the USA, Ford had 250K and Chrysler had upwards of 150K. Check the numbers today they still have the same number of workers but half of them are overseas. We do the final assemby, but ninety percent of the parts are made overseas. America doesn't have one company manufacturing TV's in the United States. Walmart didn't get as big as it is from selling American made products. Keep in mind that only American's can elect the members of Congress and all of the laws of trade are made by Congress. Your vote is important in the next election.
We're already paying their healthcare, they get to interact with people that aren't thugs, people skills ARE important, it probably improves their feeling of self worth... Why don't we ask them if they want to be on the phones or in the yard/cell?
American-American-2390509- you make me just CRY all over myself with your occupy 1% references. The reason we have more people getting put into jail AND millions out of work... Well look at the people currently in power, and then look in a mirror.
The social programs (often times money for vote scams thanks to elected officials) that give you money for nothing twist a person from the inside-out. You start enjoying the hand-out more than working for a living. When the free money goes away, you don't know how to support yourself. It's a horrible, sick trap. Then, you do what you can to get by, including steal. And you end up in prison. Not true? What neighborhoods in big cities have the highest welfare rates? Now cross-reference with arrest rates? Wait, if you do this, you might faint when you see the results. You better sit down first. After decades of "free money" pouring into communities, the problems are worse then they've ever been. I volunteer in these areas, don't even think of telling me I don't know what I'm talking about. I see it. I talk to the people.
On Privatizing future savings plans and making people responsible for their own outcomes, good or bad- it builds strong people and communities. You'll find (if you ever give it a chance) that a community can take care of its own far better than Uncle Sam. But you have to build it up, first. It'll take time and will not be easy.
at least you should get someone who speaks english...
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course the inmates choose to work at the call center, they're paid. Fifty cents an hour doesn't seem like much until you think about the number of hours these guys have to pass. The money can then be used to buy commissary items, which in turn can be traded for contraband. Plus, they likely get to hear female voices.
You're an idiot. Inmates hear male AND female voices every single day among peers, staff, corrections facility officers, other workers, attorneys, instructors, faith workers who volunteer in their facilities, JUDGES, on and on... u seriously think this is a DETRIMENT or a 'bonus' they should be denied?? And the "pay" at $.50 an hour? U must be joking; there are 'work' hours they are 'released' for, IN the locked, secure facility, under constant surveillance of armed guards, and do NOT have access to ANY tools, devices, or personal information of ANYONE. Rehabilitation and education, and SKILL BUILDING, of ANY kind, for ANY prisoner, is a VALUE to our society.
Name a SINGLE 'unemployed' U.S. worker who would remotely consider the type of work these inmates do... that is why these 'jobs' ARE offered to prisoners and jail inmates who must EARN the "right" and "privilige" with MANY steps being taken to do so.
Grow up and offer something of substance if you have something to offer at all, Patriotic.
I served my country in 3 AD tours, by the way, and have also had legal issues... and would have been GRATEFUL for the opportunity to 'rehabilitate' and actually LEARN something as these citizens are. Do you have ANY idea that they actually PAY to be IN jail and PRISON in the first place in the majority of the United States? They pay for EVERY SINGLE THING THEY DO, from stubs of pencils to tiny toothbrushes and NASTY toiletries and food... ugh.
What's your deal? I think were in agreement here. This is a good thing. You need to lighten up.
Hey romy, spoken like a true Christian. Punish them forever. Let them serve their time and persecute them after they get out. If Heaven is real, I can't wait till Jesus throws His book at people like you.
romy will be doging Bibles, Torahs, Qu'rans, and Bhagavad Gitas from Jesus, HaShem, Allah, and Krishna simultaneously. At least I hope so. May they all have good aim, Amen.
This sort of thing was addressed in 'The Shawshank Redemption'
A 'river of dirty money' running through the place....
And people wonder why we have such high incarceration rates in this country. It's for reasons like this. With the amount of laws we have on the books, anyone can be arrested for pretty much anything at anytime. This is the future of the 99%.... instead of minimum wage, we'll all be working for the corporations for 50 cents an hour.
I would rather have a call center staffed by prison inmates then by someone from Southeast Asia or India, at least the majority of the inmates Native Tongue is English.
Of course this is all understandable. When you have people in congress that don't know what it is like to have 20.00 left in the bank account between pay days, they are NOT going to understand why it's a bad idea to give jobs to convicts over law abiding citizens. Remember....there is a disconnect here on the part of our lawmakers. And not to mention the FACT that those convicts are most likely making even more money for some corporation that puts money in the congressman/womans pockets. It's pure economics/cronieism 101.
Fine I have a monthly budget of $800 from which I have to pay rent,utilities and buy food and you want me to feel sorry for someone getting housed and fed making only 50 cents an hour. Give the job to the unemployed out here before they get desperate enough to end up in there.
Many of these prisoners owe restitution to their victims. Wonder how long that takes to pay back at 50 cents an hour.
Most prisoners don't have victims, Lame name.
...The reason that prisons supposed to sell goods and services only to government is that in the public market you are competing with private firms... that can't pay 50 cents an hour. (Anybody see the Shawshank Redemption) So you not only have outsourcing to slave labor in the third world... but in prisons...
...The National Guard does not build or repair civilian roads for that reason (except in emergencies where the governor can order them to do temporary repairs on roads, pontoon bridges, etc)
...I am all for spending money helping those convicts who can be helped. Do you have any idea of just how many functional illiterates are in prison? In Japan a prisoner can never be given parole or early release unless he completes and graduates from a literacy program.
You need to learn about the brand of jeans called "Prison Blues" those are manufactured here in Oregon by inmates who are paid minimum wage. But there's a catch to that over 50% of their wage is held back to pay for their own clothes, housing, meals. etc..
The reason I am stating these facts is from learning about them while I was help teach some of the limited classes available to inmates. English literacy is one of those classes, they no longer are able to get college degrees in Oregon prison system as they were before.
Paying minimum wage is good. Extracting more than half of that income to cover expenses is inappropriate. 25%, rather than 50% would be more appropriate, as it would allow the imposition of a mandatory savings amount, say 25% to allow the inmate to build up some money to use once they are released to purchase essential necessities, and afford living expenses while they transition to life outside of prison. That still leaves the inmate with 50% from their work to use in other ways during incarceration, should they actually need to purchase items.
Concerned Veteran,
Were you one of the people teaching English literacy? Did that include grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure?
All I did was help teach English comprehension. The inmates I helped were finally able to read a book and understand what was written.
Kirigami,
The time that I was helping the inmates was on my own time, meaning I volunteered to help someone who needs help. Have you been in the military and served your country or even volunteered your time to help others?
Concerned Veteran ... Thanks for your time in both the Military and Volunteering to help within the Oregon prison system. As for Kirigami ... please don't feed the Troll.
We complain about criminals who don't want to work an honest job and to earn an honest living, then when they show a real interest in doing just that, we want to block every opportunity for them to do so. Sometimes I wonder whether "law-abiding citizens" are really as moral as they tend to view themselves. They seem to be more interested in hurting people than in building a better society. Call it "justice" is you will, but there is clearly something wrong with someone who would make no allowance for any chance of rehabilitation, and who would rather pay $30,000+ per year to keep someone behind bars than allow that person to reintegrate into society as a productive, rehabilitated fellow citizen.
Absolutely spot-on, Shandril. In a rational cost-benefit analysis, this program makes complete sense. Rehabilitating inmates should always be the number one priority. But too many people are focused on the "punishment" part of it.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that the threat of punishment does nothing to deter criminals from committing crimes. What fear does prison bring to someone whose life is already marginalized? The only people who are motivated to keep society's wheels turning are those who are invested and involved in it. As the man said, if you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose.
I realize it feels "right" to want to punish bad behavior, and "wrong" to reward it through job training, etc. But what is the end goal? Justice -- whatever that means -- or a more functional society? Incarceration makes us feel better, but ends up costing more than rehabilitation. I'm not in any way a bleeding heart; if locking people away forever was cost effective I'd say go for it. But it isn't.
The problem is that they may be earning an honest living in prison but what about when they are released to find out that all the jobs are being done by their friends in prison?
Not to mention the fact that you are giving personal information to someone who had a criminal record. I can't even get a job stamping out auto parts if I had a criminal record.
So the next time you give out your information over the phone you might want to ask who they work for.
Ralph, I think your response is a bit extreme. They are giving NO personal information to those incarcerated. It's highly unlikely they are even given a phone number, as this type of calling is usually done on an "auto-dialer." And do you really give information over the phone if you don't know who it is? I NEVER give info out unless I have instigated the call. It amazes me that people will give even their SSN to people who call them. Why, I can't imagine.
And as for your first statement, about all the jobs being done by their friends in prison; again, quite unlikely. If they really want jobs and have been properly trained, they'll stand a much better chance of employment when they are released than those who just sat around and "did their time."
Shandril and Dan, both excellent posts. One statement which struck me in particular was:
This has been well established for over 50 years! It is particularly poignant in the case of capital punishment, because the threat of it has not kept people from committing capital crimes, and yet politicians still champion it.
You are right on when you say that the goal of imprisonment should be rehabilitation. Unfortunately, to most people that still seems like rewarding the negative behavior rather than "punishment." Someone mentioned above that in Japan you couldn't get early release or parole from a sentence until they had completed and graduated from a course in literacy. That seems such a logical move . . . along with the other positive suggestions.
I'm still astonished when I realize that people know so little about prison rehabilitation.
Earlier, Patriotic said:
AMEN to that! Let's keep the focus on the positive that can come from this!
The problem, Shandril, is the bogus "crimes" they wound up in prison for in the first place-never mind that private companies are profiting from government largess. It is a sick, evil, system.
Sadly, this is essentially slave labor with the prisoners not being paid even remotely close to Federal Minimum Wage. Prison labor is not a ready-made labor pool to tap for slave wages so as to boost one's bottom line. I do support prisoners being given the opportunity to work, but they should at least be paid at the minimum wage, even if they are required to surrender a portion for withholding to pay court fees/costs against their fee for imprisonment. Yes, prisoners are required to pay for their imprisonment (at least we charged inmates a fee per day of incarceration when I worked for the government), but it should not absorb all of their income made through work.
Bear in mind, the chance for recidivism is lower if inmates have real opportunities for them once they are released. Our system does a poor job at any kind of status restoration post-incarceration, and this could be one means by which that is remedied, even if only in part. We already have products made in other countries with slave labor (nearly all of our electronics, esp. Apple products made at Foxconn slave factories, for example), we should not also be using such labor here in the United States.
Unbelievable...
"no personal information is displayed to the prisoners, who don't have access to computers, officials said."
Really, so your company is a service company and keeps no records of what they provide for your clients? What is the point to talk with the clients then.
And I am to believe you?
Tell me about that Bridge you have for sale out in the Mojave desert. THAT would be more believeable.
Autodialer dials the phone number. The phone starts to ring. If answered, the salesman/woman tries to sell the product, running through a script, just like any other telemarketer. If they agree to buy, they are then transferred to someone who isn't an inmate, who actually works for the company, to take their payment information. There is no personal information shared with the inmates. Calls are monitored and recorded to make sure there's nothing fishy going on. If there is, they put the kibosh on it.
Never been an inmate, but I have worked with the prison system here in Utah. They sold a brand of family videos until somebody decided to start flirting with a girl on the phone - they lost the whole program and that guy got beat by multiple others who lost their jobs because of him. That job got them a 'take-home' pay of 35 cents per hour. The rest of the money gets deducted and goes back into the prison, pays for child support and/or restitution. There's also jobs with the prison dairy, building trailers and hot tubs, and the forest firefighters to name a few. Sorry I got no bridge for ya!
When janet napolitano was the govenor of Arizona she hired her girlfriend dora schiro to head the arizona prisons, they established a inmate call center in Tucson and the result was the inmates obtained thousands of customers credit card information and other data and began running their own theft-scam ring themselves all under the supervision of the prison.
dora shiro was fired by NYC for screwing up rikers island inmate facility, which was when she was hired by her "friend" janet. They devastated the Arizona Prison system. dora quit right after janet became odumbo's homeland security director and I would bet money dora is hired somewhere in that system and messing that up too.
On the other hand the women's prison outside Buckeye handles the Level one calls for the AZ Motor Vehicle Division. You are told on the phone to not give personal info, the inmates answer generic questions, improve their self esteem, gain work place skills and save the state (taxpayers like us) money. I think a win-win opportunity.
@Assrancher -Say something meaningful or shut up.
Linda Peterson-1986959 - You're exactly right. It is a win-win situation.
everything I say is meaningful, and lose your fixation with my ass pervert....
Of coarse Danny would not be happy it is not GOVERMENT UNION MEMBERS Ripping Us Off.....
I believe in rehabilitation and yes it might be slave labor but at least they get to keep interest in something other than to sit there, and better to keep that money within us instead of other countries. i understand peoples frustrations on them needing jobs and why do inmates get to have jobs while people are unemployeed, but i doubt that any of us will work for .50 and hour, that would be pointless. so i rather them do that work and keep a company afloat if not there goes another company and more jobs lost because im pretty sure that the inmates are not necessarily the only people running the company. idk im just saying
Everyone should be provided with a second chance, and if this can help someone to become a productive member of society when they get out, then I'm all for it! I know people who have been incarcerated and now lead productive lives so don't tell me it can't happen.
Modern slavery prison camps, comming soon to a theater near you.
Just another way for corporations to get slave labor at slave labor wages...now they don't even have to go to other countries to do it. 50 cents an hour... unbelievable. And they try to make it sound like they are doing everyone a favor when all they are really doing is increasing their own profits. Why don't they just say so
Ok really? So many Americans are out of work and instead of hiring those people lets just get the imates to do it...thats crazy!!!!!!! I say hire people who don't end up in jail in the first place besides I sure don't want imates knowing my personal info.
Prinzezz, you say that none of us would work for 50 cents an hour, so why not let the inmates do it. You miss the point....these companies using inmates would be required by law to pay at least the federal minimum wage if they were to give the jobs to the general public. Because they are using inmates, they are being allowed to bypass minimum wage laws that apply to every other company in the US
Guarantee you that money is being skimmed off the top for someone or someones. It's not all going back into the program...that's such BS. If there is one thing I've learned living on this earth is that you can't trust humans with power to do the right thing.