Stay In Touch

Contact with friends and loved ones is very important to inmates. The impact of being locked in a cell all day, or being around convicts all day, can really have an effect on your emotions and attitude. The ability to make phone calls is great, and it makes a huge difference in our day-to-day lives, but they usually only last 15 minutes, which isn’t really enough time to hold a meaningful conversation. Since the pandemic, CDCR has implemented video visits that allow us an hour to talk with an approved visitor face-to-face. These video visits allow for lots of people, who wouldn’t normally be able to get a visit, to see the people they care about. If our loved ones are ill or live very far away, it could be very difficult to make the journey.


There are laws that state they can’t provide video visits instead of contact ones unless there is a pandemic or some other reason, so we usually don’t have that option available to us. Some people are working to keep them going in a limited capacity. Usually, we have contact visits three days a week, for the better part of the day, which is very important in my opinion for an inmate to maintain proper relationships with those in the outside world. Sometimes it makes me feel better just to know that I’ve put my family’s worries to rest. I believe that by maintaining these relationships, you are better preparing yourself for transition back to the real world. 


Plus, children need more hands-on and in-person contact in order to form effective bonds to their parents.

Well, that’s all for now. Thanks a lot for reading. I hope you found it enjoyable and informative.

Jordan

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