Worth Rises

🎉 Big news for families in NY! 🎉 Starting August 1, prison phone calls in New York will be FREE. Right now, families across the state are forced to pay exorbitant prison phone call fees — often at the expense of groceries, rent, and family stability. With this new change, NY families can expect to save an estimated $13 million annually, and have the right to connect with their incarcerated loved ones without sacrificing rent or food. As NY Assemblyman Harvey Epstein put it, this move is “a huge step to help incarcerated families stay connected without feeling bankrupt.” This victory was made possible by years of tireless advocacy by directly impacted families, Worth Rises, Prison Policy Initiative, Fines and Fees Justice Center, Osborne Association, Color Of Change, Unchained, and local allies committed to ending these cruel fees once and for all. In becoming the sixth state to make prison phone calls free, New York takes a major step forward in the fight to #EndJusticeFees — and one step closer toward helping families stay connected, stable, and financially secure. Learn more about this move – and the relief it will bring – in The New York Times: tinyurl.com/mvc5w26v

This headline from the The New York Times requires a slight edit — "[Incarcerated People's] Phone Calls Will Soon Be Free in New York State," — but the story is absolutely worth sharing and celebrating. After *years* of hard-fought advocacy, led by organizations like our allies at Worth Rises, New York becomes the sixth state to take this significant step toward seeing, respecting, and at least partially protecting the very basic human needs of incarcerated families. Calls are about so much more than communication. They are connection. They are a lifeline. They are your access to legal support, necessary services, and hope. They are, for many incarcerated families, an essential tool in enduring the unparalleled challenge that is incarceration. Perhaps what's most revealing about this, though, is how the change was achieved. The state was able to negotiate with the private, for-profit vendor that provides call services to lower rates and shift the entire bill away from incarcerated families and onto the state budget. As more and more state corrections agencies try to navigate what are often very lopsided, complex contract negotiations with their vendors, there's probably a lot to learn from this. But for now — deep gratitude to the advocates and directly impacted leaders who fought for this policy change. Inspired and humbled by your fire. https://lnkd.in/e6ThZxmv

This is great news! Thank you to all the people who are incarcerated and their families, advocates (including Worth Rises), legislators and NYS DOCCS for making this happen! https://lnkd.in/giY-NXVE

Free phone calls are coming to NY prisons. I'm so proud to have worked on this campaign for nearly 6 years! Since NYC first made calls free at Rikers in 2018, this has been a long time coming! Our message was always the same -- maintaining strong family connections is crucial for incarcerated people. It provides hope, accelerates reentry, and for those families separated by incarceration, it means the world. Every child deserves to hear good night from their parent, near or far. Up until now, families have gone into debt trying to maintain those connections. But on August 1 that changes and will save families over 13 million. Thank you to every person who supported this campaign, coalition members through the years, petition signatories, and volunteers. And a big shoutout to Bianca Tylek, who I met through this very campaign and am now proud to work with at Worth Rises. It's so good to hear something good. Onward! https://lnkd.in/eYyjf97j

🚀 Breaking: the UK NCP has accepted our complaint against Barclays and HSBC regarding their investments in private prison companies. Filed by Worth Rises, Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR) and BankTrack, the complaint argues that the banks have breached their responsibilities by maintaining financial ties to CoreCivic and GEO Group, the largest private prison operators in the US, without taking steps to prevent or mitigate their exposure to human rights harms. The decision by the UK NCP follows a similar verdict by the Swiss NCP in August 2024 regarding UBS. We hope that the three banks will now accept the offer of mediation, and take some action that addresses these concerns as a result! https://lnkd.in/eMXtm6-e

Thank you for your continued support of our work!

Thank you so much for hosting us with our Executive Director Bianca Tylek!