Regulating Telecommunications Services for Incarcerated Young People: A Call to Action

The Youth Law Center has urged the California Public Utilities Commission to regulate the rates, terms, and conditions of telecommunications services provided to young people confined in juvenile justice facilities and others incarcerated in detention and correctional facilities in California. The organization, which advocates for the transformation of juvenile justice and child welfare systems, argues that access to telecommunication services is just and reasonable, and that regulation is necessary to ensure fair rates and terms for incarcerated individuals. The CPUC has the authority to regulate intrastate calls, which have been shown to be unfairly priced, with some counties charging up to $13.65 for a 15-minute phone call.

Key Takeaways:

• The Youth Law Center has urged the CPUC to regulate the rates, terms, and conditions of telecommunications services provided to young people confined in juvenile justice facilities and others incarcerated in detention and correctional facilities in California.
• Research demonstrates the importance of keeping young people in family settings and maintaining regular contact with supportive family members, with the CPUC playing a crucial role in ensuring access to telecommunications services for vulnerable populations.
• The CPUC has the authority to regulate intrastate calls, which have been shown to be unfairly priced, with some counties charging up to $13.65 for a 15-minute phone call.
• The CPUC is responsible for ensuring consumers have safe, reliable, affordable, and universal access to telecommunications services, and should exercise its authority to regulate the companies that provide telecommunications services to incarcerated young people and others confined in juvenile and adult detention and correctional facilities in California.
• Regulation must include: 1) caps on intrastate telephone and video call rates; 2) limits on ancillary fees that would undermine the purpose of rate caps to provide just and reasonable access to telecommunication services; 3) equitable access to services for incarcerated people with disabilities who need calling services involving the use of text telephones (TYY); and 4) free access to telephone and video calls for young people in juvenile detention and commitment facilities to contact family.
• The importance of familial contact cannot be overstated, with consistent contact with parents and family members evidenced to improve behavior, increase community connectedness, and reduce recidivism.

Statistics:

• Some counties in California charge up to $13.65 for a 15-minute phone call.
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has called upon its state counterparts to act to address the egregiously high intrastate communication rates and fees imposed in detention and correctional facilities.
• The CPUC is responsible for ensuring consumers have safe, reliable, affordable, and universal access to telecommunications services, and should exercise its authority to regulate the companies that provide telecommunications services to incarcerated young people and others confined in juvenile and adult detention and correctional facilities in California.

Sources:

• Youth Law Center, "Opening Comments of the Youth Law Center to Order Instituting Rulemaking 20-10-002" (November 9, 2020)
• California Public Utilities Commission, "Order Instituting Rulemaking to Consider Regulating Telecommunications Services Used by Incarcerated People Rulemaking 20-10-002" (October 6, 2020)
• Federal Communications Commission, "Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services, WC Docket No, 12-375" (August 7, 2020)
• "Price of Justice: Juvenile Phone Calls" The Financial Justice Project, Young Women's Freedom Center, and Children's Defense Fund California (2020)