We often forget about special groups of people, disregard their specific needs, and are oriented for a broad audience. However, there are awesome services that care about people who experience uncertainties in life. Meet an Inmate is one of them. This is a service to connect inmates currently based in correctional facilities, and looking for a communication opportunity outside these facilities. Meet an Inmate gives a unique opportunity to find a pen pal to build a friendship, romantic relationships, or even families.
Reputation and History of Meet an Inmate
Meet an Inmate is one of the most recognized services for incarcerated people, which carries on its social mission since 1998. It is not a modern digital service, rather a social project helping thousand men and women in correctional facilities to exercise their rights to communication, and many of them have changed their lives dramatically due to finding a pen pal. Meet an Inmate is not a dating service, and all the communication is done here by means of snail mail. It means that you have to be ready to write handwritten letters and wait for a reply maybe even longer than a week. It is tough to meet someone you have met as a pen pal in person due to the correction facilities rules. Also, the inmates you are talking to may be located in a different state. Nevertheless, some people still manage to bring their relationship to the next level, meet, and even have romantic relationships. However, this is not the purpose of Meet an Inmate.
Website, App, Interface, Registration
Meet an Inmate, which operates through the corporate website. It is hard to call this website robust and well designed, but it still looks straightforward. It doesn’t have aggressive colors in its theme or overloaded with pictures, hyperlinks, or videos. It has minimum media content, but very clear messages are delivered on the main page and easy to navigate. Meet an Inmate is not represented as an application; however, everyone, who prefers to use the smartphone or tablet over the PC, can freely enjoy mobile web browser options. The registration process is not complicated, but still, it may take some time to complete the full application as it is quite long. Also, the application on Meet an Inmate is a subject to scrutinized moderation, and it required attentiveness and honesty.
Overall sign up process is not that hard, but it is different for inmates and pen pals.
For inmates to be listed on the website, it is necessary to navigate to List an inmate section on the site, where the detailed instruction can be found. Once you are ready, choose the gender and proceed with the application. The application can be completed by an inmate or by a trusted person. The following information should be shared on your profile:
While completing the application, it’s possible to choose an option after the application is submitted, and the payment is completed, the profile is posted within 72 hours.
Pen pals do not fill in or submit the application; they can simply use the website and mail services to start the communication.
The profiles are real on Meet an Inmate; however, the cautions should always be applied no matter what kind of service you are using. Talking to imprisoners requires some extra attention.
These are a few issues that pen pals may face and should keep an eye on the communication to avoid them:
Meet an Inmate runs the website only; it is also available in the mobile version. However, it doesn’t make sense to create a separate app as smartphones are forbidden in correctional facilities, and communication through the application would be impossible. Still, thousands of people are not frightened with the perspective to write regular letters.
No wonder Meet an Inmate is ranked as number one among the websites which connects inmates with pen pals. It provides a safe and affordable environment, and its symbolic payment subscriptions help to remove all scammers or people with inappropriate intentions. Here you can use a search engine to choose by gender, age, and also Meet an Inmate offers the toll, which helps verify the information about the prisoner checking the inmate locator.
Partner Search
Meet an Inmate has a lot of purposes: to help people during difficult times, become a mentor, help as a psychologist, have fun, and even establish a friendship. Romantic relationships and personal meetings are not the purpose; however, it often happens among the pen pals and inmates as people are getting close. Taking this into consideration, Meet an Inmate recommends concentrating on finding a nice communicator, not a date.
There is only one option for inmates: complete the application, publish it, and wait until your pen pal finds you and gets in touch.
On the opposite, pen pals have all the necessary tools to make a proper contact search without the registration. For this purpose, they just need to visit Meet an Inmate website, use one of the search criteria, check out the address, and verify the information about the prisoner if needed. Pen, piece of paper, stamp and envelope are the combo to get started.
Meet an Inmate offers to find the inmate by the following criteria:
Gender. Meet an Inmate offers to look for male and female profiles or both
Additionally, there is an option to filter people who have not been contacted by pen pal yet. This may be an excellent idea to get in touch with these people and make their day better.
The main way to contact prisoners is to write them a handwritten letter and send it via the US Postal Service.
It is also possible to make and receive a phone call. In this case, there are a few important things to keep in mind. Phone calls are not limited in distance, but they are limited in duration. Usually, the phone calls last no longer than 10-15 minutes. Also, these are collected calls, which are quite expensive as prisons profit from it. Be careful sharing your phone number due to security reasons and some unexpected expenses.
Emails. In the digital era, it is hard to stick just to handwritten letters. Recently things have changed, and some prisons started to allow using paid email services for prisoners. Jpay.com is one of them, and if you want to contact your inmate via email, visit its website, and check using the inmate’s information, whether he or she has an email. This email service is not very straightforward, and terms are different for each facility and State; thus, some prisons allow prisoners only to receive incoming emails, but they still have to reply via regular mail.
Meet an Inmate Alternatives
Today the market offers many similar services. Here comes just some of them:
Each of these services has its own specifics. Speaking about Meet an Inmate, this is one of the oldest services, which operates for more than twenty years and has gained the trust of many pen pals and prisoners. The fees for inmates are very reasonable. And the security for pen pals is one of the biggest priorities for the website. Unlike many other websites, Meet an Inmate is not a dating service; it has its own social mission and intends to cheer up prisoners rather than help them find love.
Membership Price and Payment Method
Pen Pals can enjoy the website absolutely for free, but still, they have some expenses on mail services.
Inmates have to pay for being advertised on the website, but the price is modest, and the tariff plan includes also using email service.
Inmates do not have any free options here, but pen pals can use the full search functionality, check all the information in the profiles, and write to an unlimited number of prisoners. Also, they can request verification, which is also free of charge.
Premium membership allows inmates to be featured and come up first in search results for pen pals. Additionally, the cost also includes the email service.
Females are offered special conditions.
12 Month Standard Ad on Meet an Inmate plus 12 Month Standard Ad on Jailbabes.com are only $60.00.
12 Month Featured Ad on Meet an Inmate plus 12 Month Standard Ad on Jailbabes.com are only $90.00
All the fees should be paid through PayPal only. A friend or relative of the imprisoner may pay a fee; instead, this is totally allowed by the website terms and conditions.
Is Meet an Inmate Really Safe?
When it comes to communication with prisoners, safety is a big question. You always need to have a steady head and use caution. Meet an Inmate no longer accepts applications from convicted sex offenders.
The communication between people under 18 is not allowed either.
Overall, Meet an Inmate is a safe place until the pen pals stop following common sense.
It is impossible to register if you are under 18. Also, the website offers a verification service, where you can find the correction facility by the State and check your inmate’s profile based on his/her application.
Please note that Meet an Inmate does not have any responsibilities for content, damages, cost, liabilities, which may be entitled by using the website. The disclaimer informing about this is located on the main page of the website.
Meet an Inmate is very customer-oriented. They offer both inmate and pen pal the following support options:
Popular User Questions:
Communication with an imprisoned person is an unusual life decision and brings up many issues. Before starting using Meet an Inmate, people usually ask the following questions:
Meet an Inmate requires you to submit one photo, and the second is upon the applicant’s wish, but it is sent to influence a response rate significantly. No adult content is allowed. Profiles with the suspicious photos can be removed or come up with the note that Meet an Inmate can not verify the photo.
Meet an Inmate account will be deleted upon the subscription end. Often that happens that inmates receive more letters than they can handle. In such a case, a prisoner can request to delete the account or put it on hold. This should be a personal request from the imprisoner only. Once the advertisement is on hold, no additional charges will be made.
Unfortunately, under Meet an Inmate conditions, it is impossible to express your interest otherwise rather than write a letter.
Meet an Inmate support team has a right to make minor edits to the application, ensuring there are no grammar errors or profanity content. Suspicious information may be rejected or come up with the corresponding note. Pen pal cannot block someone’s account. If the communication is inappropriate, simply stop replying to the letters.
Once the ad is placed, there is no refund. The postponement is possible at no charge.
Conclusion
Meet an Inmate is not a typical . This is a project for people with a high social revocability and desire to support and mentor people currently located in correctional facilities. It doesn’t intend to establish romantic relationships or help someone to find love, rather support and a friend to talk with. Meet an Inmate operates through the regular mail correspondence. Pen pals can visit their website to find an inmate they would like to contact. It is absolutely free for them. Inmates should make a profile on the website filling out an application form and paying a small fee.
This reliable platform is safe and secure. It gives tips and tools to verify the information and avoid scammers; however, the full responsibilities for any negative consequences of the communication with imprisoners lie entirely on pen pal.
If you are looking for an opportunity to make a life of one person, who is locked down in prison better, Meet an Inmate is definitely the right place to start. Break the stereotypes that convicted felons do not deserve warm communication and support – make a difference.
Meet an Inmate users sign up here as well: