After an incredibly busy spring and summer of taking calls from prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jail Accountability and Information Line (JAIL) has launched a new fundraiser to help cover it’s operating costs.
Click Here to Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jail-hotline-fundraiser
The Jail Accountability & Information Line (JAIL) takes calls from people imprisoned at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) and their loved ones on weekdays from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Since its launch on 10 December 2018, the JAIL hotline has taken more than 5,000 calls from prisoners at OCDC.
The JAIL hotline works with callers to address the human rights issues they face at the Ottawa jail, including grossly inadequate medical care and diet, denial of religious rights, and lack of affordable communication with loved ones. It also connects callers to community supports and services to facilitate their safe release from custody. In addition to jail oversight and community re-entry work, the JAIL hotline supports prisoner-led campaigns (see below) and events to reduce the use and harms of imprisonment at OCDC.
In December 2020, our Responsive Grant from the Law Foundation of Ontario will end. We currently use this funding to cover our phone bills, as well as pay staff who coordinate the hotline’s call intake and resolution work. It costs approximately $5,000 per month to operate the JAIL hotline and we are seeking donations to maintain the initiative for the coming year.
By donating to this funding campaign, you will be directly contributing to the JAIL hotline’s capacity to (a) employ staff and pay operational costs incurred as part of documenting and raising awareness of the human rights and re-entry issues faced by prisoners at OCDC, as well as (b) organize with people imprisoned to impact change at Ottawa’s jail.
We thank you in advance for your support!
Prisoner-led Campaigns:
https://cp-ep.org/legal-notice-indigenous-peoples/
https://cp-ep.org/updates-and-demands-from-women-at-ocdc/
https://cp-ep.org/july-ocdc-hunger-strike-ends/
https://cp-ep.org/ocdc-hunger-strike-updates/
https://cp-ep.org/cpep-ramadan-solidarity-ocdc/
JAIL Hotline Reports:
https://cp-ep.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/JAIL-Hotline_Q1-Report_Final.pdf
https://cp-ep.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Jail-Hotline_Q2-Report_Final.pdf
http://cp-ep.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Q3-Report_JAIL-Hotline_final.pdf
https://cp-ep.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Ontario-Jail-Telephone-Report_JAIL-Hotline_Final_October-2019.pdf
Jail Hotline in the News:
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/ontario-must-address-urgent-health-issues-at-ottawa-jail
https://www.ottawamatters.com/local-news/ottawas-jail-hotline-takes-nearly-1500-calls-in-first-six-months-1500641
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/leblanc-and-co-ontario-must-reduce-overdose-risks-behind-and-beyond-bars
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/piche-stop-jailing-people-with-mental-health-issues-it-kills