I have done state time and know it is reallly rough if you do not have cash. I was fortunate enough to have bond money to get me through. Then came work release. Is the fed system different? We got 10-15 $ per month pay. Surely they do better in the fed system. I need to know because my brother is getting ready to go. He was indicted last Dec and the trial is to be in April. I will always take care of him as long as I can take care of me. I am curious about this issue tho. THanks ;)

It all depends on the job. Some jobs will get you a whopping $5/month. You can make more money if you work for Unicor, but alot of prisons have a waiting list.

Can you tell me then do they take better care of you than the state does?

Can you tell me then do they take better care of you than the state does?
As in medical care? Oh, God, you don't even want to know. Suffice to say that when I was in there was an flag football game. Two guys running full steam coming from opposite sides of the field collided head to head. One guy was literally knocked out cold, the other guy dizzy.

The P.A. told them to go lie down and take a nap! True story!

As for making money, I earned .12 cents an hour, but I was in the lowest job classification there is, sitting in the power plant reading meters once an hour. The kitchen pays a little better, I believe, and in unicor you can do alright. But, as someone already said, there's a waiting list at most facilities and it can take a year or more to get in.

In the meantime if you don't mind a little hustling you can make extra by cleaning, doing laundry, ironing, etc....

is he going to a FCI or will he be at a camp? The ability to work is there. The pay can get bad. The best he can count on is maintenance pay of $5.00/month. There are other jobs. The good ones are assigned and the feds keep people in prison for long time so the rotation is long. He will be able to spend 290.00 at the store and up to 300 minutes if the calls are long distance it will cost 69.00 per month for 300 minutes. Wish your family luck and patience

My husband makes $5.75 per month and is told not to spend it all. Because I am in Canada and he is in California our calls cost approximately 50 cents a minute, so his calling card costs us the most.

IMO, federal does take better care of the inmates than state...However, I suppose it depends on which federal prison it is. I know my Sweetie has been taken care of better in federal than when he was in state.

He has a job which pays him around $10 a month. He works full time and when a year is up he gets a one week vacation, just like out in the real world.


Can you tell me then do they take better care of you than the state does?

69 69is he going to a FCI or will he be at a camp? The ability to work is there. The pay can get bad. The best he can count on is maintenance pay of $5.00/month. There are other jobs. The good ones are assigned and the feds keep people in prison for long time so the rotation is long. He will be able to spend 290.00 at the store and up to 300 minutes if the calls are long distance it will cost 69.00 per month for 300 minutes. Wish your family luck and patienceHi I was just thinking about how you said it is 69.00 a month well that is what I thought and he said it is 28 not 23 a min but I am getting upset due to the fact that it is always a money isue you see I am the only one that sends him money I send 175 a month for the phone and his needs and he works but says they take half for restitution if he makes over a certain amount im at my end wits I am a single mom why cant anyone in his family even send 5 but they have no problem calling me to see whats up and when I get fed up I go off and anyway I just dont see why the family wants the scoop but no on can help. Im so uptight.

Wow guys this is grim. I beleive he will be goingto a FCI.

There are basically 5 pay grade levels. The first as mentioned above is "maintenance pay" which is about $5 per month. Then there are 4 grade levels for the better jobs. Grade 4 is about $18 and grade 1 is about $50. Let's say he is a plumber and he goes to work in the plumbing department, there will be a half dozen other guys already there. There will be 1 grade 1 guy and one grade 2 guy. Nobody moves up the chain until somebody higher than them leaves then everybody will move up one position. Unicor pays anywhere from $100 to $300 but as the others said, there is a long waiting list to get one of those jobs, for obvious reasons. The phone costs $.23 not $.26 the maximum monthly that you can spend is $69. I just left Sheridan Camp in December so that is what it was when I left anyway.

As in medical care? Oh, God, you don't even want to know. Suffice to say that when I was in there was an flag football game. Two guys running full steam coming from opposite sides of the field collided head to head. One guy was literally knocked out cold, the other guy dizzy.

The P.A. told them to go lie down and take a nap! True story!

As for making money, I earned .12 cents an hour, but I was in the lowest job classification there is, sitting in the power plant reading meters once an hour. The kitchen pays a little better, I believe, and in unicor you can do alright. But, as someone already said, there's a waiting list at most facilities and it can take a year or more to get in.

In the meantime if you don't mind a little hustling you can make extra by cleaning, doing laundry, ironing, etc....

Ya, when my guy had his Hep C tests done, he asked also for a herpes test since it's also done through the same blood work. He has never broke out with herpes, but I wanted him to ask for a test anyway.
They told him "Ahhh, if you don't break out, don't worry about it", LOL :eek:

As far as the pay goes, it was real bad at first. About like state. But my guy put in for the photo job shortly after he got there, he had to wait 2 years for it, and now is making better money. Now he's about to start work with Unicor, making better money.

is he going to a FCI or will he be at a camp? The ability to work is there. The pay can get bad. The best he can count on is maintenance pay of $5.00/month. There are other jobs. The good ones are assigned and the feds keep people in prison for long time so the rotation is long. He will be able to spend 290.00 at the store and up to 300 minutes if the calls are long distance it will cost 69.00 per month for 300 minutes. Wish your family luck and patience
HI Wendy!

I hear sometimes u can a tutoring assignment. How does that work? And, what does it pay? I have 2 degrees .... duh!!! and going to jail

Thanks much

Yes, you can tutor, but the pay scale is the same. Anywhere from 12 cents per hour up to 40 cents per hour.

You can go to the education department when you arrive and see if they are hiring tutors.

all i have to say is UNICOR!!!! or you can try doing apprenticships which is getting a good trade even though you wont make as much. i worked at a unicor call center and was able to support myself. it can be done

FCI's have jobs in the Units, Mess Hall,Commissary, Education which includes the library, Psychology, Chapel, Laundry, Lieutenants Office, Compound, Recreation, Medical, R&D, SHU, Facilities which includes- electrical, plumbing, paint shop, wood shop, general construction and maintenance repair, HVAC, landscaping and admin. UNICOR offers every job from admin to skilled worker to foreman and maintenance.
The hours vary depending on the job, but for the most part Monday through Friday Facilities, Unicor, Medical, Psychology, Education, Chapel all work 8:30 to 11:30 then off for an hour and then 12:30 to 3:00 this is the usual hours but there are those who work shift work like the Mess Hall, library, compound, recreation, and Unit orderlies. The pay grades are levels 4 up to level 1, and most jobs only ever have 1 level 1 and if your lucky 2 level 2 but generally only 1, and they can have mulitple level 3 and 4. UNICOR is mandatory GED or High school diploma, and if you do not have one wen you arrive or can not provide proof you have either or, you WILL be taking the GED program! There is generally a 4-5 month waiting list for UNICOR and
it can be helped if your celly or a freind can put a good word in for you.
The pay is so low that when you get out you fall over with the first pay check you get at your first job, you will feel rich!
The pay is small but it can help you to buy stamps, and this is better bought off the guys in the Units who trade stamps for money, this means they work a deal like sell their radio or bet on cards or a game or whatever, and the only money we had inside FCI is stamps or commissary, so the usual is 2 for one on stamps, I can buy two stamps for the price of one in the commissary. I got a list from the seller and bought his commissary in exchange for twice the amount in stamps. This worked out great as I wrote home every day. I never got money sent in, and I survived, I even managed to save 500.00 to go home with, all on Grade 1 pay as an Electrician and I was also the emergency Electrician, so that also was logged for after hour pay. You could also teach classes after work these were Inmate classes that helped people learn and it counted towards their Unit Team for requirements for participating in bettering themselves and showing that they are acclimating.
A person can make it alone without outside help. It is hard but it can be done.

FCI's have jobs in the Units, Mess Hall,Commissary, Education which includes the library, Psychology, Chapel, Laundry, Lieutenants Office, Compound, Recreation, Medical, R&D, SHU, Facilities which includes- electrical, plumbing, paint shop, wood shop, general construction and maintenance repair, HVAC, landscaping and admin. UNICOR offers every job from admin to skilled worker to foreman and maintenance.
The hours vary depending on the job, but for the most part Monday through Friday Facilities, Unicor, Medical, Psychology, Education, Chapel all work 8:30 to 11:30 then off for an hour and then 12:30 to 3:00 this is the usual hours but there are those who work shift work like the Mess Hall, library, compound, recreation, and Unit orderlies. The pay grades are levels 4 up to level 1, and most jobs only ever have 1 level 1 and if your lucky 2 level 2 but generally only 1, and they can have mulitple level 3 and 4. UNICOR is mandatory GED or High school diploma, and if you do not have one wen you arrive or can not provide proof you have either or, you WILL be taking the GED program! There is generally a 4-5 month waiting list for UNICOR and
it can be helped if your celly or a freind can put a good word in for you.
The pay is so low that when you get out you fall over with the first pay check you get at your first job, you will feel rich!
The pay is small but it can help you to buy stamps, and this is better bought off the guys in the Units who trade stamps for money, this means they work a deal like sell their radio or bet on cards or a game or whatever, and the only money we had inside FCI is stamps or commissary, so the usual is 2 for one on stamps, I can buy two stamps for the price of one in the commissary. I got a list from the seller and bought his commissary in exchange for twice the amount in stamps. This worked out great as I wrote home every day. I never got money sent in, and I survived, I even managed to save 500.00 to go home with, all on Grade 1 pay as an Electrician and I was also the emergency Electrician, so that also was logged for after hour pay. You could also teach classes after work these were Inmate classes that helped people learn and it counted towards their Unit Team for requirements for participating in bettering themselves and showing that they are acclimating.
A person can make it alone without outside help. It is hard but it can be done.
I forgot to add, that the teaching of inmate classes after hours were voluntary not paid, during the day when GED classes are in and ELS english as a second language class were active the inmates that helped teach or did teach these classes were paid as in any other job.