Supporting family video visits during COVID-19: the experiences of the Community Restorative Centre

ABSTRACT

The Community Restorative Centre (CRC) is based in New South Wales, with its family worker and telephone information and referral service worker providing support to the families of people in prison in that state. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting suspension of face-to-face visits to incarcerated loved ones caused a high level of distress to families, which was partially alleviated by the introduction of video visits directly to the family’s own smart device. This new system of video visiting was not without difficulties but provided a welcome method of staying in contact with a loved one in custody. CRC staff were able to provide ongoing emotional support and accurate, up-to-date information to family members throughout the pandemic and alleviate some of the misinformation and resulting distress experienced by families who were concerned about the physical and emotional wellbeing of their relative in custody.

KEYWORDS:

• Family video visit
• prison
• technology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Bartels (2020).

2 De Claire and Dixon (2015).

3 https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2e92f007-453d-48a1-9c6b-4c9531cf0371/aihw-phe-246.pdf.aspx?inline=true

4 Besemer et al. (2018).

5 Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999.

6 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2019).

7 Fear for loved ones inside as COVID spread worsens in NSW prisons | SBS NITV.

8 Public Accountability Committee Inquiry into the NSW Government’s Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

9 NSW prisons lockdown as COVID-19 crisis unfolds - Crime - Australia (mondaq.com)

10 https://theconversation.com/more-than-a-million-prisoners-have-been-released-during-covid-19-but-its-not-enough-170434; https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/26/nsw-fails-parole-low-risk-prisoners-despite-covid-19-provision; https://greens.org.au/nsw/news/covid-outbreak-parklea-prison-must-lead-urgent-reform; https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/release-nonviolent-inmates-before-the-prison-covid-outbreak-explodes/; https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/calls-to-depopulate-the-nsw-prison-system-as-covid-claims-it-first-inmate/