The overlooked reentry tool for veterans: Prison tablets

Incarcerated veterans live at a difficult intersection: military service, involvement in the justice system and a society where nearly every step of reentry — from applying for benefits to securing housing, health care and employment — requires digital access. 

Today, even basic reentry tasks often demand navigating online forms, identity verification tools like ID.me and other web-based systems that are hard to reach from inside a prison.

For governors, corrections leaders and policymakers, this is not just a human story; it is a public safety, fiscal and moral question: Are we using the technology infrastructure we already control to support successful reentry for those who have served?

According to recent federal estimates, roughly 181,000 veterans are incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails. As they return home, they are expected to navigate a modern, digitally driven benefits and service system, often with limited support.

The Department of Veterans Affairs deploys Veterans Justice Outreach specialists to engage justice-involved veterans through outreach, assessment and case management. These specialists help veterans understand and access benefits during incarceration and after release — support that improves institutional adjustment and, as evidence shows, can reduce recidivism.

Yet too many veterans remain cut off from the digital tools and structured information they need to navigate a digital‑first VA benefits system.

Unlike the public, incarcerated individuals do not have open internet access or the ability to independently search for employment, housing, health care, or benefits. Many correctional facilities instead rely on secure-network tablets as the primary source of digital access. These devices offer a critical opportunity to deliver accurate, structured information that can shape reentry outcomes.

When these tablets are underutilized, veterans leave incarceration without timely or credible information about VA benefits — a gap no amount of post-release intervention can fully close.

State and local corrections leaders play a decisive role in determining whether this digital access and reentry information gap persists. They control the content on secure-network tablets and influence the technology providers selected to deliver those services. They are not passive users of technology, but gatekeepers of information that can influence public safety, recidivism and long-term stability for veterans and their families.

In many jurisdictions, secure-network tablets are already deployed at scale. Using them to deliver structured, VA-aligned reentry content requires no new infrastructure — only leadership direction.

This is not about providing open internet access inside corrections facilities; it is about using existing systems more strategically. While tablets already support communication and entertainment, a critical opportunity is missed if they are not also used to deliver targeted, rehabilitative content. When loaded with accurate, relevant resources — including VA benefits information — these systems become extensions of institutional programming rather than disconnected add-ons.

Two sets of leaders are positioned to close this gap.

The VA should ensure that information on benefits, health care, housing assistance, employment programs and reentry resources is available in nonproprietary formats that can be easily deployed across tablet systems. Video modules, step-by-step guides and plain-language explanations should work across different secure tablet platforms without proprietary barriers or licensing hurdles.

Technology should reinforce, not replace, human expertise. Clear, standardized digital content can provide veterans with a foundation of knowledge about eligibility, enrollment and available support, so that when they meet with VJO specialists or other case managers, time can be spent on problem-solving rather than on basic orientation.

State and local corrections leaders, in turn, can ensure that this information reaches the veterans in their custody by:

• Requiring high-quality, VA-approved reentry content for justice-involved veterans in secure-network tablet contracts — with the same standards applied to any vendor.
• Formalizing partnerships with VA and VJO programs to coordinate content, training and dissemination.
• Directing procurement teams, chief information officers and IT leaders to prioritize vendors that can deliver vetted, nonproprietary public content and update it as policies change.
• Integrating tablet-based resources into case management and reentry planning and tracking indicators such as how many veterans start VA benefits applications or health care enrollment before release.

These are vendor-neutral expectations that any technology provider serving corrections should be able to meet.

Aligning tablet content with the work of VJO specialists offers a practical, scalable way to strengthen the service network that supports justice-involved veterans. It allows veterans to absorb information at their own pace, revisit it and prepare informed questions before engaging with service providers. It moves reentry preparation upstream — into the period of incarceration — reducing delays, confusion and missed opportunities after release.

Early access to accurate digital information narrows gaps in care upon release, lowers the risk of food insecurity, homelessness and unemployment and supports continuity of treatment for physical and mental health needs. Intentional use of existing digital tools during incarceration becomes a public safety strategy — one that can improve reentry outcomes, reduce recidivism and reinforce the broader veteran support infrastructure.

If we are serious about honoring service, reducing recidivism and building stronger communities, then ensuring justice-involved veterans leave incarceration informed, prepared and connected must be a shared responsibility. Governors, corrections commissioners, VA leaders and technology partners can align tablet contracts, content standards and reentry planning so that every justice-involved veteran leaves custody with clear information and a digital bridge to the benefits they have earned.

The infrastructure already exists. What is still needed is alignment on leadership.

Tammy Ferguson is director of Operation Veteran Reentry at ViaPath Technologies, and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. She is a former executive deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and now works in the corrections and reentry space, where she also serves on a governor’s advisory council on veteran services. Her views here are focused on public policy, emphasizing standards that any correctional technology provider should meet.