How to Support a Friend in Prison in Florida

Do you have a friend who’s in prison in Florida (or in any other state)? 

It can be tough to know how to support someone when they’ve been incarcerated. You might feel unsure whether to get in touch at all. Perhaps you’re worried that it will be upsetting for your friend to be reminded of their life outside prison.

The truth is that people in prison hugely appreciate contact from friends and family. Don’t assume that other friends or relatives are getting in touch, either. Sadly, some people will cut contact with a friend or relative who’s been imprisoned.

Here are some practical ways you can support your friend while they’re in prison.

5 Ways to Support a Friend in Prison in Florida

1. Find Out the Contact Details for Your Friend in Florida

Maybe you heard through a mutual friend that your friend is in prison, but you don’t know which prison. It’s easy to run a prisoner lookup in Florida to find an inmate. You just need to know their first and last name and you can easily track them down.

Once you have your friend’s contact details, you’ll be able to get in touch with them, send money to their prison account, and more.

2. Write Letters to Your Friend (and Include Your Phone Number)

You can’t normally phone someone who’s in prison – though they can phone you. Write a letter to your friend and give them your phone number so they can call you.

To make sure that your letter gets through:

• Include the prisoner’s full name and their ID number.
• Don’t use things like paper clips, staples, glitter, stickers, etc. Just keep it plain and simple.
• Don’t write anything that could be seen as sexual, explicit, or related to a criminal.
• Don’t include any content that could be related to an escape plan, e.g. a map of a recent road trip.
• Don’t use perfume, cologne, or anything else scented on your letter or envelope.

3. Send Gifts to Your Friend

If you want to, you can send gifts to your friend. They’ll likely have a lot of time on their hands in prison, and they may feel lonely and bored.

Books make a great gift, if your friend enjoys reading. Some bookstores (including Amazon) will deliver to prisons. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t send hardback copies of books – they could be used as a weapon. If your friend doesn’t enjoy reading novels or non-fiction books, you could send magazines or graphic novels instead.

When you write, you may want to ask your friend if there’s anything you can send them. Find out what they’d particularly appreciate.

4. Send Money to Your Friend

You might think that your friend won’t need any money in prison, as everything is provided. The reality is that while the basics are provided (like soap and three meals a day), having money to buy things from the prison commissary (shop) makes a huge difference to prisoners. It allows them to get things like shampoo, snacks, and much more.

Don’t try to send cash in the mail to your friend. Instead, you’ll need to deposit money into their prison account.

5. Visit Your Friend

You may be able to visit your friend in prison. If so, they’ll likely welcome being able to see you. Keep in mind that before you visit, you’ll need them to place you on their approved visiting list. You’ll be sent a form to complete in the post.

Your friend won’t be able to add more than 10 friends/associates to their list, so it’s important to keep this in mind if they’re likely to have a lot of friends who want to visit.

Supporting a friend in prison can be tricky. You might not be sure what to do or what to say. But your friend will be sure to appreciate whatever support you can offer.

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* This article was originally published here