What Video Calls Now Cost at Growlersburg (And How Much You’ll Save)
Trying to budget for staying in touch? The key number is the per-minute video rate—and it dropped after Growlersburg switched to Securus. Here's what CDCR's cost chart shows, plus a simple way to estimate your monthly total.
CDCR's cost comparison chart puts video calls at Growlersburg at $0.10 per minute with Securus. Under ViaPath, the previous provider, the rate was $0.16 per minute. That six-cent difference adds up fast - especially if you do longer calls or multiple visits each month.
The free video-call allowance changed too. ViaPath offered 15 free minutes every two weeks; Securus offers 30 free minutes per month. In terms of total free time, those are roughly the same over four weeks. But the timing works differently - you're now drawing from a monthly bucket instead of a two-week cycle.
Use more than video? A couple other prices dropped too. E-messages are $0.03 with Securus, down from $0.05 with ViaPath. Telephone calls (paid by CDCR) are $0.016 per minute, compared with $0.019 under ViaPath.
Estimating your monthly cost is straightforward: add up the video minutes you expect to use, multiply by $0.10, then subtract up to 30 free minutes before calculating what you'll actually pay.
- Price a single call - A 30-minute video call at $0.10/min comes out to $3.00.
- Estimate a month of calls - If you plan two 30-minute video calls in a month, that’s 60 minutes total.
- Apply the free allowance - CDCR lists 30 free video minutes per month under Securus, so you’d have 30 paid minutes left (60 − 30 = 30).
- Calculate the paid portion - 30 paid minutes × $0.10/min = $3.00 for the month (for those two calls).
Note: ViaPath's free video reset every two weeks (15 minutes each cycle); Securus resets monthly (30 minutes). The total is similar over four weeks, but the timing matters if your calls cluster early or late in the month.
Tip: CDCR warns there may be intermittent outages during the transition, and rollout dates can shift. All fire camps are fully transitioned, but confirm service is working at Growlersburg before counting on a specific call time.
- ✓ Confirm the camp is listed as transitioned in CDCR’s rollout notes.
- ✓ Test with a short video call before you plan a longer one.
- ✓ Have a backup plan (like phone time or e-messages) in case there’s an outage.
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