How can we help?

Find guidance for accounts, plans, and information delivered through eMessages.

Getting Started

Learn how to set up FamilySponsored for your incarcerated loved one

eMessage Support

Help with eMessages and FamilySponsored responses

Account Help

Ask Questions about subscriptions, billing, eMessages and Contacts

Quick Help Topics

Pricing & Billing
  • STARTER: $10 for one 30-day pass
  • PRO: $25/month, renews until you cancel
  • eMessage stamps are separate and charged to your card
  • Review plan and messaging charges before checkout
  • Cancel or modify subscription anytime
AI Services Available
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Google Gemini
  • Perplexity

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

FamilySponsored is an AI powered information service for family sponsors. When your loved one in a correctional facility sends you a question by eMessage, FamilySponsored helps you get the best answer, with research, writing help, or images.

Family members and friends, 18 or older, who want to help a loved one in a correctional facility get answers to their questions. Their facility tablet must offer eMessages.

FamilySponsored takes research, writing, and information requests off your to-do list and answers them any time of day. That leaves your own messages for the conversations that matter most.

No. FamilySponsored is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any tablet or eMessage provider, any state government, any department of corrections, or any correctional facility.

Getting Started

  • Go to www.familysponsored.com and press Get Started. Sign in with Google, Apple, or Microsoft, or with your email.
  • Find your loved one by their ID or last name and add them as your Contact.
  • Choose a plan: a 30-day STARTER pass or the monthly PRO plan. eMessage stamps are separate.
  • Enter your details and the card used for stamps, review the charges, and pay.
  • Setup takes about 5 minutes. We email you when everything is ready, and your loved one receives a welcome eMessage from you explaining how to send their questions.

Setup usually finishes about 5 minutes after you pay. The welcome eMessage is sent as soon as it is ready, but the facility reviews every eMessage, so it can take up to several days to reach their tablet. Facility mail rooms typically are not operating during weekends or holidays.

No. Your loved one uses the eMessage app already on their facility tablet. You only need a web browser to sign up and manage your plan.

  • They reply to your welcome eMessage, writing to you the same way they always do.
  • They write each question in plain words, with as much detail as possible. For example:
    • List the top 10 books about living off the grid. Include author, price, ratings and a short summary.
    • Summarize the Wikipedia article on Canada: history, culture, and government.
  • FamilySponsored helps you get the best answers. Each question and each answer uses eMessage stamps.
  • Answers are usually ready in a few minutes. Delivery to their tablet depends on the facility review.

Yes. Once your first setup is ready, add another Contact and choose a plan for them. Each person needs their own plan.

Features & Capabilities

  • Legal research: case law, statutes, new legislation, and help drafting motions and letters
  • Internet research: news, books, sports scores and stats, stocks, Wikipedia, and public documents
  • Education: GED prep, job skills, resumes, and language learning
  • Creative writing: letters, essays, poems, songs, and stories
  • Custom images: art, photos, cards, diagrams, and posters
  • Recurring updates on a schedule with TASK
  • Long pieces of work with PROJECT, and sharing replies with you using SHARE

A TASK repeats a request on a schedule written in plain words, and the fresh answer arrives each time. For example:
  • TASK: MY-STOCKS SCHEDULE: Sun PM. Stock price and news on MSFT, AAPL, IBM, GM and AMZN.
  • TASK: LEGISLATION SCHEDULE: Monthly on Monday. 500 word summary of new criminal justice bills in Colorado.
  • TASK: MY-SCORES SCHEDULE: Every Tuesday 1:00 AM. NFL box scores for the current week.

Each scheduled reply uses stamps, like any other reply.

Your loved one starts a line with IMAGE: and describes exactly what they want. Up to 5 images fit in one eMessage, and they can ask for changes in a follow-up, such as a different background, colors, or style. For example:
  • IMAGE: A watercolor birthday card with sunflowers that says Happy Birthday Mom
  • IMAGE: A simple labeled diagram of the human heart

Replies with images use more stamps.

Your loved one puts a PROJECT: line at the top of each message about it. FamilySponsored remembers the earlier messages in that project, so each answer builds on the last. To build on one particular answer, they use its number with REFER_TO:. For example:
  • PROJECT: My-Novel Write chapter 3, picking up where chapter 2 ended.
  • REFER_TO: #12345 Make this letter shorter and more formal.

Every reply starts with a number, such as #12345. Your loved one sends SHARE: 12345 and that reply is emailed to you. They can share several replies at once, or a whole project by its name. To send it to someone else, they add SHARE_WITH: and an email address. For example:

Yes. They can ask for any Wikipedia article, as a summary or in full detail. For example:
  • Summarize the Wikipedia article on Dwayne Johnson, including key dates and achievements.
  • Describe Ireland in 2500 words: history, culture, and population.
  • What is the full quote for 'You can't handle the truth' from A Few Good Men?

FamilySponsored does not search the internet for pictures, and it does not read or follow social media accounts. If a request asks for one of these, the reply is a short note saying so, and it still uses a stamp. It also cannot make phone calls, contact anyone on your behalf, or send anything other than eMessages and shared replies.

Technical & Response Times

Request processing typically takes a few minutes. eMessage delivery times vary by facility procedures and can take up to several days. Facility mail rooms typically are not operating during weekends or holidays. Long replies are split across several eMessages automatically.

  • Maximum characters per eMessage varies per state. Maximum 20,000 characters in Colorado, 4,000 in Florida and 2,000 in California are examples of the variation. Check with your local state to get current limits.
  • Up to 5 images per eMessage.
  • Long replies are split across multiple eMessages, and each one uses stamps.

The facility reviews every eMessage under its own rules and may reject, censor, or delay a request or a reply. FamilySponsored cannot change those decisions. Stamps used by a rejected message are not refunded. Rephrasing the request and sending it again usually works.

Pricing & Value

  • STARTER: $10 for one 30-day pass. Each person can use STARTER once.
  • PRO: $25 a month, renewing until you cancel.
  • eMessage stamps are separate from the plan price and are charged to your card.
  • All plan and stamp charges are shown before you pay. Cancel or change your plan any time.

  • Each request your loved one sends and each reply they receive uses stamps, at the provider's rates.
  • Replies with images, and long replies split across several eMessages, use more stamps.
  • Stamps are bought in packages at the provider's prices. With Auto-Reload on, a new package is bought automatically when the balance runs low.
  • Used stamps are not refunded, including stamps used by a message the facility rejects.

STARTER ends after 30 days and does not renew. To keep going, choose the PRO plan for the same person from your account.

  • AI research, writing, and information support
  • Up to 5 images per eMessage
  • Scheduled TASK updates, PROJECT work, and SHARE to email
  • AI services including OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Google Gemini, matched to each request

Using FamilySponsored Effectively

  • Be specific: List the top 10 books about living off the grid. Include author, price, ratings and summaries.
  • Say how you want it: Give full details in about 2500 words and include sources. Tables, bullet points, and short summaries all work.
  • For images, describe exactly what you want: IMAGE: A photorealistic sunrise over mountains.
  • Ask follow-up questions when you need more detail.

Yes. Put each request on its own line or paragraph so they are easy to tell apart. One eMessage can hold up to 5 image requests and 5 text requests.

The welcome eMessage explains the basics. After that, they can simply ask, for example How do I set up a TASK? Questions about the service are answered like any other request.

Security & Privacy

Yes. Questions and answers are encrypted in transit and at rest, and shared only with the AI service needed to answer each one. Like every eMessage, they are also subject to the facility's monitoring.

You see the answers they choose to share. When your loved one sends SHARE: with an answer number, that answer is emailed to you, or to another address with SHARE_WITH:.

Support & Troubleshooting

  • Your loved one: they can ask how the service works in an eMessage, like any other question.
  • Family and friends: email [email protected], call +1 (888) 429-5282, or use the contact form on our website.

Sign in at www.familysponsored.com and open your dashboard. You can change or cancel a plan there at any time. STARTER passes end on their own after 30 days.
Need More Help?
Email Support

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What's Included
  • ✅ AI-powered information and writing support
  • ✅ Up to 5 images per eMessage
  • ✅ Scheduled TASK updates
  • ✅ PROJECT work and SHARE replies to your email
  • ✅ Access to available AI services

Key FamilySponsored Features

Smart AI Routing

Selects the best AI service for each request

Current News & Events

Stay up to date with current news, sports, stocks and other critical internet information

TASK Scheduling

SCHEDULE recurring requests to deliver timely responses

Image Generation

Create custom art, photos, designs and diagrams