The Impact of Video Visits on Washington State Prisons
For people who are incarcerated, separation from family and friends is a difficult fact of life, as are the financial and logistical barriers that keep their loved ones from visiting them in prison. Because research has shown that contact with loved ones is a critical factor in improving outcomes for incarcerated people returning home, prison syste...
Here at Vera, we decided to investigate the impact of introducing video visits in one state prison system, and found just how much potential is being missed. We partnered with Washington State Department of Corrections, where people who are incarcerated have been able to access video visits since 2013. The service, provided by JPay, allows users to...
Video Visitation in Prison
Research shows that prison visitation is integral to the success of incarcerated people, reducing recidivism, facilitating their reentry into the community, and promoting positive parent-child relationships. However, people are often incarcerated long distances from their home communities in areas that are difficult to reach by public transport, cr...
Series: My Brother's Keeper
Much of my work in Vera’s Family Justice Program focuses on understanding the impact of staying connected to family for people who are incarcerated and helping our government partners to identify policies and practices that enhance opportunities for family connections during people’s incarceration or their transition home. It seems intuitive that f...
The impact of video visitation on corrections staff, inmates, and their families
Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections, Family Justice Program, and Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit, in partnership with the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC), are conducting the first comprehensive study of the impact of remote visitation via online video—commonly known as video visitation—on incarcerated people, corrections cultur...
