Prisons offer various inmate services, including educational classes, support groups for addiction, and stores that sell items like snacks and toiletries. The profits from these stores go towards inmate welfare funds, which benefit all prisoners with activities, classes, and legal resources.
Prisons typically have a variety of inmate services for the benefit of those incarcerated. They can help inmates feel comfortable while locked up or prepare them for life outside prison. For example, there are often courses for inmates to take, enabling them to earn their high school diploma, improve reading and writing skills, or become better parents to their children. There are also often support groups that focus on reducing or eliminating drug and alcohol abuse. Many prisons also have a store, the proceeds of which typically go to projects that benefit all inmates, such as a library, exercise equipment, and a television service.
One of the more popular inmate services includes classes, many of which are educational in nature. For example, many prisons have classes that teach inmates the skills they need to graduate from high school via the GED test, as well as improve their reading, writing, and computer skills. Such classes can often help them find a job once they get back to their lives, or just keep them busy if they aren’t likely to be getting out anytime soon. There are also often classes available for inmates who want to improve their parenting skills, manage their anger, or learn a particular skill, such as cooking, cutting hair, or applying makeup professionally.
Many inmates are in need of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, which is why inmate services typically include support groups for these issues. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are just two of several organizations that often send representatives to prisons to lead support groups for inmates. Many prisons also have their own signature groups to help lend support to inmates, either dedicated to a particular drug, or available to all inmates trying to recover from addiction in general.
While most inmate services are free, some come at a price, such as stores that are stocked with items that the typical prison doesn’t otherwise offer. Some examples of items that can usually be found in prison shops are snacks, soap, socks, deodorant, writing instruments, stamps, plastic plates and sweets. Any profits made from the store often go towards inmate services that benefit the majority, called inmate welfare funds. This may include exercise equipment, cable television, activities, classes, testing services, and a law library that allows inmates to better understand the legal system. The money raised from the use of the telephone in prison is also often donated to the inmate welfare fund.
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