One of the most important ways for prisoners to nurture personal relationships with their family and friends is to have face-to-face visits.
In many instances “in-person visits can place a substantial burden on the visitor, who may have to miss work, pay for childcare and cover the cost of travel,” said Fred Patrick, Director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections – Vera Institute of Justice (Vera).
In early 2016 the agency released the results of its national survey targeting state departments of corrections to determine the possibility of using video visitation in 50 state prison systems. All state Department of Corrections responded to the survey.
The survey asked about all the potential expenses associated with video visitation, such as hiring and training staff and purchasing supplies and equipment. Researchers interviewed a director and manager at JPay to determine the vendor’s expenses for implementing and operating the services, and more than 200 incarcerated people were also given the opportunity to use the new system.
Today, the availability and access to the scheme is in 30 percent of the states surveyed. Video visitation is in nearly all facilities in four of those states, but in nearly half of all states using video visitation, it is available in fewer than 20 percent, the survey revealed.
In seven of the 15 states with video visitation, visitors can access it from any location on personal computers. Vera pointed out that availability is also influenced by how visitors are able to access the service. Two states have made plans to expand access to visitors’ smartphones and tablets.
The system’s availability varies between 30 and 66 percent of state facilities in four states. Another nine states report plans of implementing it, and seven more intend to offer it in the future. Fourteen states have no plans to use the system configuration at all, the survey noted.
Even when a prison offers video visitation, it may be limited by rules that make the service accessible only to certain categories of incarcerated people. The survey found that the majority of the people held in administrative segregation, protected custody, special behavioral or mental health housing units were often unable to access the system.
“The most restrictive option for visitors to access video visitation is on-site in the prison,” according to Vera.
As this model of service delivery appears to be growing in popularity, and it’s likely to expand, there is concern that California jails will eventually eliminate in-person visits.
A recently released publication from the Prison Policy Initiative found that since the implementation of California’s realignment, many more people are serving time in county jails than ever before.
The California State Bill 1157 sponsored by Senator Holly J. Mitchell (D)- Los Angles, was successfully approved by the Public Safety Committee. This enactment would “preserve visitation rights for all people in county jails, juvenile facilities and private facilities by clarifying that video technology cannot be used to replace in-person visits.
Mitchell said, “The Legislature has spent a great deal of time grappling with this issue of humane treatment of people in California jails,” the Prison Policy Initiative reported.
“We have approved funding to reduce overcrowding, improve educational and rehabilitative services and reduce recidivism. We would be going backward to now eliminate a basic human right, in-person visitation. Maintaining familial relationships is key to their success once released,” she acknowledged.
