(ABC 6 News) – In Iowa, the Cerro Gordo County jail announced they will end in-person visits in favor of video calls.

Jail officials say they phased out in person visits during the COVID pandemic and are now making the change permanent.

The calls are free if you make an appointment 24 hours in advance and take the call at the jail.

But without employment family members of incarcerated people say they will pay 50 cents per minute.

If someone spends 15 minutes talking to a family member three times a week, that’s $22.50. Families could spend up to $90 a month just to talk to their loved one, roughly $20 more than Iowans pay per month for their gas bill.

Officials from the Cerro Gordo County Jail say they made the move for safety reasons and because video visits are more convenient.

But advocates from Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit that researches the impacts of mass incarceration, say the move can actually make jails less safe.

“We also have some evidence that it, it far from making jail safer, it actually makes it worse.” said Wanda Bertram, a communication strategist from the Initiative. “Because actually when you take away people’s primary connection to the outside world, that withers away their mental health and it makes it more likely that you’re gonna see conflict breakout.”

Prison Policy Initiative also says this is not just an issue in Iowa, but a problem being seen nationwide.