How Do I Send Mail to an Inmate in Pennsylvania?

Inmates in Pennsylvania have had access to mail from their loved ones, and this has several benefits to thriller rehabilitation, including;

The inmate’s mental health improves through contact with the outside world.
It helps maintain relationships with friends and family.
The inmate’s loved ones might play a crucial role in the inmate’s rehabilitation, and the community may reap benefits.

Inmates have the privilege of receiving and sending mail. However, it is subject to certain restrictions. Mail sent to and from detainees is carefully monitored for security and convenience.

There are protocols established by the Department of Corrections (DOC) for governing inmate mail that ensure their security and safety. Also, the sender can check the regulations on the website of the respective department.

Regulations on Sending Mail

Inmates in Pennsylvania can correspond with their families and friends. There is no limit on the number of people to whom inmates can send or receive or the number of mail they can send or receive. Here are some of the regulations when sending mail to an inmate:

The Pennsylvania facilities allocate each inmate eight free stamps each month.
Inmates may get greeting cards. However, they may not include electronics or have multiple layers.
You cannot send stamps and envelopes to an inmate. The inmate must buy these items from the commissary.
Inmates cannot communicate with other inmates, current or past staff/volunteers, or victims (unless the facility manager authorizes them to.
You should never send an inmate other items, such as jewelry, personal items, etc., because the staff will confiscate them as contraband.
We urge you to call the respective facilities if you have any questions about what you can send.
The mail should include the inmate’s details but not for or from a third party.
Do not mail cash, stamps, personal checks, or stamps, as the facility may reject and return the mail at the inmate’s expense.
Never add decorations to your message or envelope. Therefore, you may not include glitter, stickers, lipstick, glue, or perfume in or on your mail.
The facility authorities open, examine and may read every mail except for the legal mail. However, the staff may still open and inspect the legal mail but will not read it.
It’s essential to uphold safety and security through restrictions placed on the content, length, volume, or source of mail. Therefore, this will help maintain disciplinary measures between inmates and the prison staff.

Below are some of the incoming mail requirements:

Full name of the inmate
Include the correct facility address and DOC number
Identifying information such as the inmate’s housing unit
The envelope must have the inmate’s name and address written on it.
Your mail must include a return address with your last name included.

What Can I Send Via Mail?

Here are some of what you can send an inmate in Pennsylvania;

Legal Mail

Legal mail/correspondence is the most prevalent contact method between attorneys and inmates. The attorney may address legal correspondence to the inmate at their usual address. However, the envelope must bear particular indications for the mail to be considered a privilege. Prison mail room personnel will open and examine the mail if these three components are missing:

The full name of the attorney
The title they go by is “as an attorney.”
A notification that states the legal mail should only be opened only in the presence of the inmate.

Letters

From the outside, receiving a letter might not look like much. However, letters are very important when you’re behind bars. They sustain you daily and carry the voices of your loved ones directly into your mind.

Inmates frequently anticipate the arrival of letters from the mail department with much anticipation. Mail delivery is among the few positive aspects of incarceration that inmates look forward to.

There are several things you shouldn’t do when writing a letter that would result in its rejection:

Avoid using staples and paper clips.
Avoid using perfume and other fragrances.
Make sure your envelope or letter has no traces of glue, crayon, marker, stickers, glitter, or lipstick.
Never include sensitive information in your correspondence since third parties may see it. (the staff inspects and reads all mail).
Rejection will come from the presence of drawings or marks that the facility staff will misinterpret as a cipher code. You can inquire about the reason for the refusal by writing to the facility.

Photos

Receiving photographs is the one thing inmates enjoy via mail. There are a lot of good things about receiving photographs while in prison. Firstly, most institutions will allow inmates to keep their photographs.

Inmates can then display the photos in their cell, use them as a bookmark, or carry them around to keep them motivated throughout the day. In addition, sending an inmate a photo helps them visualize the subjects you’ve been discussing over the phone or in written correspondence.

Remember the following while sending photographs:

Photos sent to Pennsylvania inmates should be 4×6 and not larger than that.
The complete return address and the sender’s full name must appear on the envelope of every photograph sent to an inmate.
The envelope should also contain the correct and complete inmate’s name and identification number.
Facilities in Pennsylvania do not allow instant and polaroid photographs because they can conceal and transport contraband.
Photographs should not portray illegal, sexually suggestive material or nudity activity.
The mailroom has the responsibility of reviewing all photos upon receiving them. The authorities will open and scan photographs sent via mail into a digital file as soon as they arrive.
The mailroom will print the electronic document and deliver the mail containing photographs to the inmate.
Always include their full name and return address in the envelope’s upper left corner.

The address of the inmate should be formatted as follows:

Name of the Inmate and Identification Number of the Inmate

Building Name

Post Office Box or Street Address

City, State, and Zip Code

Money

Family members and friends can send funds to their loved ones incarcerated in Pennsylvania via mail. The least expensive method of sending money to an inmate is by mail. However, it also takes longer for the inmate to receive the money. U.S. Postal Service money orders will suffice for this purpose.

You should ensure the money order is payable to “JPAY.” Also include the name and identification number of the inmate in the memo section. Fill out the money order, including your name and return address. It’s also necessary to get an inmate Pennsylvania money order deposit slip printed.

You’ll need to know the following details before you can send money:

The Name of the Inmate
The Identification Number of the Inmate
The inmate’s present location

Books and Magazines

Books, magazines, periodicals, and newspapers sent to inmates via mail are excellent because they provide hours of reading material for days, weeks, or months after arriving. It is easy to have books and magazines sent to inmates as almost every facility allows inmates to get the books. However, they require that the source for books and magazines be from a reputable bookseller, such as Amazon.com.

Consider the following while mailing books and magazines to your loved ones in prison:

The books and magazines should not contain maps, nudity, or instructions for producing illegal drugs, alcoholic beverages, or weapons. Some magazines not allowed because of adult content include Hustler, Penthouse, and Playboy. However, Field & Stream, Car & Driver, Maxim, and Newsweek are some of the magazines allowed by the facilities.
They must be brand new and paperback; no hardcovers allowed.
Make sure to use the inmate’s complete name, identification number, and facility mailing address when placing an order from Amazon.
If you want to send a book to an inmate, you must visit sites confirmed by publishers like Amazon. Enter the inmate’s mailing address, and choose the shipping option that includes the US Postal Service. You can use the inmate search tool or contact the respective facility if you are uncertain about this information.

Holiday/Birthday Cards

Family members and friends may send inmates birthday and holiday cards. However, the Mail Policy of the Department of Corrections prohibits inmates from receiving mail in colored envelopes for security concerns. The policy addressed the security threat posed by a rise in drugs smuggled via greeting cards.

Here are some of the things to consider before sending a holiday/birthday card to an inmate:

Always use the United States Postal Service.
Mail delivery is not available to inmates in solitary.
The cards cannot contain electronics, pop-ups, or interactive content.
The card requires your signature. The facility will return any unsigned cards.
Avoid using mailing envelopes that have padding inside the form of plastic bubbles.
They must also abide by the rules regarding acceptable content (no sexually explicit material or nudity, no matter how amusing).
The cards should also not include glitter, stickers, or other embellishments that distinguish them from regular, simple cards.
Make sure you use the correct method to seal the envelope. Do not seal the envelope or card with decorative tape or scotch tape.
The correspondence will be returned to you if it contains any blank paper or envelopes. The facilities require all envelopes used by inmates to be purchased from the commissary.

It is important to remember that a letter should always precede any items sent to an inmate. You can use this to know whether or not inmates can receive items. Remember that the inmate will have to find a place to put whatever you provide them. As a result, the facility will allow the inmate to have a certain number instead.

E-mail

The Department of Corrections (DOC) started using e-mail services offered by ViaPath Technologies on March 15th, 2016, so inmates may receive emails. All e-mails received by inmates are subject to content assessment.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections permits inmates to receive electronic mail via a JPay account. Please visit www.jpay.com to sign up for an account. To send electronic messages, you must have a subscription through JPay. JPAY imposes a charge for this service.

Inmates have no internet access and cannot respond electronically. Therefore, the inmates will read the mail at the kiosk in their housing unit. The inmate can respond by sending electronic messages from JPay at the kiosk. The kiosk also stores messages for future viewing. The inmate may request a printed copy of the electronic message for a nominal fee.

JPay electronically scans all mail for security issues. The mail is again delivered to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, where authorities will inspect it once more before delivering it to the inmate. Inappropriate content in the mail can cause processing delays or message rejection.