The outcome is not at all poor if you consider what it's optimised for: profit for the prison operators and their suppliers.

Because why try harder when it's so easy to make ridiculous profit? Especially because the people are "criminals" that nobody wants to help?

Anyone who does want to help is outnumbered by the fierce and protective cabal that currently runs the prisons and attached services. They're not going to be displaced without some major show of force either through community action or legal regulation.

The outcome is perfect from a market perspective. Keep in mind the prisons are the customers not the inmates or the people communicating with them.

What incentive do the people who make the decisions have to change it?