First, I am sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I am new here, and I thought I saw a category titled Federal Prisons the other day, but I don't see it now.

My question is this. How long can a person expect to wait before hearing from a loved one in a federal prison? I'm not sure my son will be able to make calls, as he is in there for making a criminally harassing phone call to another state, which was a federal crime, so I am thinking they might not let him use the phone. However, we haven't got a letter yet, and I am wondering if there is a hold up on how long the mail takes to get from prison to a family member, as we thought we would have heard from him by now and are worried.

Thank you to all of you who are making a difference in other people's lives by being here to answer questions and give support. This website is a miracle. I don't know what I would have done without it.

Hi and welcome to PTO! I'll transfer this to the Fed forum.... you'll see the transfer link when you come back to the profiles forum :)

mrs

Lighthouse

I can't remember your details, but often times when they arrive, and have been processed the counselor will allow them to make a call. Don't believe this is a written rule....so it's usually an act of kindness.

Since he is a new arrival, he may not have the materials needed to write. If he has money, it will just take time to get to commissary which is usually a set day of the week. I've read that a stamp and envelope will be provided to those not having any. But...what's wrote, and what happens can vary.

Give it a few days, easier said then done! I'm sure he is trying to get something out ASAP! Hope you hear from him soon!

Diane

Oh, and BTW just so you know it's not you!

PTO is going through some updates so it really is different then the last visit you had the other day! Just didn't want you to feel like....something seems wrong!

It's not you! :p

Diane

Hello Diane,

Thank you for your response. He took money with him, so he does have money to buy writing supplies. You mentioned that there is only 1 day that you are allowed to go buy supplies, and I didn't realize that, so maybe that explains why we haven't heard from him yet. It's been 8 days, and he said he would contact people as soon as possible, and it is worrying. His girlfriend hasn't heard anything either, and he has a little girl who is 5 years old who has been up all night the last 2 nights asking for her Daddy and being sick to her stomach, so she is picking up on the stress around her. I feel like he has disappeared and there is no way to find out anything about him, which just doesn't seem right to me. It seems like there should be some information available for families, some sort of booklet telling you what the rules are, what to expect. Thank goodness for this website, and for the kind people who take the time to answer questions here.

Thank you again.

my brother is at FPC Duluth. He has been there since the day after Easter. We did get a courtesy call after he was there for 24 hours. This was a quick call from the counselors office to let us know he was alright. We have since heard from him several times but he did have to get phone clearance first. He also needs a list of people that he wants to call and write to. You can mail him the phone numbers and addresses if necessary. You could possibly call the facility. WE did call the facility to ask a question about what we could send and then we asked his counselor how my brother was doing. Maybe you could try that. hang in there.

Donsis,


We did call the prison today. They have inmates answer the phone, and the person we spoke with looked him up in the computer, and we were told he is still in a holding cell, that they keep all new inmates there for an average of 8-10 days when they are waiting for all their medical tests to come back to make sure they don't have any infectious diseases. They said he would be moved to the prison camp soon. Today is day 10, so I sure hope so. The person we spoke to said he would not be able to write when he is in the holding cell because he wouldn't have any paper. At least now we know why there have been no calls, no letters.

It is a wonderful idea to call and ask to speak to his counselor, and I will call again to see if he has been moved and ask to speak to his counselor.

Again, I am so thankful for this site, as the only information we have had or tips on how to get any has come from here.

Thank you Donsis. I apppreciate you taking the time to respond.