What kind of job does your sibling have in prison? Do they earn enough that they don't need extra to be sent in? How and when do they get paid? If they don't have a job are they learning a trade?

Sorry it took so long for me to answer, but I had to wait for him to call, so my mom could ask him for sure!
Right now, my brother is not working. He just got out of the hole a couple of weeks ago, and they haven't given him a new job yet. (We're hoping that they're taking so long because they know he's getting out on parole! He's still waiting to hear.)
At his prison, everyone starts out working in the kitchen, mopping the floor, making 19 cents an hour. In the year that Eli has been there, this time, he had worked his way up to serving food to the other inmates, for 42 cents an hour.
When he was in prison before, he was a tutor (like a teacher's aide), for the teacher that he had for his GED. He really liked doing that. The pay started out a little higher, but he was making about the same when he left as he was before he went to the hole.
Pay is put into their accounts once a month. They get a paper showing how much was put in, and how much was taken out for cable TV, postage, doctor's visits, etc.
Eli lived on nothing but his prison pay for 6 1/2 years, before he was out on parole and we adopted him. He couldn't ever afford to buy junk food, and his cable got cut off sometimes, when he had to pay for things like eyeglasses.
Now, my mom sends him about $60 a month. He buys a $50 phone card, so he can call us, and spends the rest on stuff for himself. He bought colored pencils so he could draw pictures for me and my little sister. We think he is a good artist. Sometimes, my mom pays for things like a radio and new underwear that she orders online for him. He has to get permission for those, first. Eli's best friend, Matt, gave him his TV when he got out on parole. Matt can't wait for Eli to get out so he can see him again. Neither can we!

Thanks Eli's sis! The pay might seem so small but I have heard other people at other prisons only making something like 8 cents an hour! Hope Eli is OK after being in the Hole and I bet you were glad to talk to him. I guess he will be giving his TV to someone else too when he leaves! Maybe he will also become a PTO member - I am sure he will be able to provide a lot of information and support to others. Please keep us posted on what's happening with Eli !:)

My brother works in the library. Actually, he's the guy that takes a book cart around to the inmates (like Morgan Freeman in "Shawshank Redemption" LOL). I think it's a pretty good paying job as far as prison jobs go. Still, it's not enough to finance his cigarettes and Twinkies habit. Mom sends him extra $$ every month.

Hi there, I read the post and wanted to share what I did and how much I was paid while in prison. My first assigned job was being a janitor at Pasquotank Correctinal in Elizabeth City, NC. I worked cleaning the dorm and showers and was paid cents a day for 5 days a week. That is $3.00 a week; not quite enough for that Lexus I wanted to save up for ( :) C'mon, smile a little!)

I am not going to give you all the details on that job, but it was just enough to help me get snacks for those long nights. A month or so later I got a job as a GED assistant, since I used to teach Adult Basic Education after college. I was paid $1 a day for 5 days...in prison that makes you rich! But after a few months I was "promoted" to minimum custody, where things were not so great.

I was given another janitor job, making 40 cents a day for 7 days, or $2.80 a week. Later I was "promoted" to administrative janitor, making the same amount, before shipped to another camp.

At Tyrrell Prison Work Farm, I was assigned to pot washer, making I think 40 cents a day for 7 days, it might have been 50 cents a day, I'd have to check. I worked there until I was shipped to Sanford, where I was a dining hall attendant for 40 cents a day for 7 days a week. I was then sent to work on the road squad for 60 cents a day, 5 days a week.

After being sent to Robeson Correctional, I worked as a dining hall attendant, the promoted to cook for $1 a day, 7 days a week. After shipping from Robeson (and a trip to the hole...have to explain that sometime) I was sent to Dan River. I never was assigned a job (thank goodness..although I could have used any money I could get).

I could talk a lot about canteen and money, in fact I started a thread here on PTO about that. I wrote several threads, but 3 in particular are called, "Payday in Prison", "Worst job in Prison", and "Payday in Prison...what to buy". All three are under the NC forum here on PTO. In fact, I will try to refresh those so you can find it easier.

Inmates don't make a lot of money while working for the prison; they call it incentive wage. But believe me, when you have no money, even a couple of dollars helps a lot.

Thanks for all the information Masonik4! Did you apply for any of the jobs or were you just assigned them? Did you learn anything at all -any kind of skill-from the work that would benefit you in the outside world ? Did you have a hard time finding a job once released?

You know, I have to smile while answering this because I found it funny, but insulting how prison claims to "help" the inmate. I only really "applied" for one job, that being the assistant to the GED instructor, but all other jobs are "assigned" under pressure. Keep in mind inmates get gaintime for working, and the state likes to see inmates put to work. So the jobs I got as a janitor and a potwasher were assigned to me, I had to take it or lose any gaintime I already had. You really didn't have much of a choice.

As far as learning anything that would help....not by a loooooong shot! I cleaned bathrooms and swept and mopped...no new traits that will gain me any advantage when released. I washed pots, pans and all kinds of cooking utensils...nothing that will gain any attention on any job application. What I did would give me no advantage for any job.

I guess I could talk much about how difficult it is for an ex-felon to get a job, because it is not easy. But there are always small jobs like working in a grocery store or in a fast food restaraunt, but many times former inmates have nothing more than that to look forward to. Many times they believe they have to settle for the least that they can get. Prisons don't teach them that they can still reach for their dreams. They don't give these guys a chance to bounce back into their life,but expect them to perform better than a regular citizen. It is very hard at times, and believe me, I went through those times, but thank goodness I didn't stay there. My hope is that inmates who are just released understand that the road may not look very smooth, but there is still a road. Prison jobs don't teach you much of anything, so most times you have to find those lessons within yourself while on those jobs.