Research group conducting study on visitation in Oklahoma prisons

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) – This summer season, a analysis group will conduct a research on visitation inside males’s prisons in Oklahoma together with right here in Lawton.

The Oklahoma Appleseed Middle for Legislation and Justice reached out to the Division of Corrections to get began on it.

The Lawton Correctional Facility is certainly one of about 15 prisons from throughout the state the analysis group plans to have a look at. Because the pandemic started, officers say household visitation in prisons has decreased, whereas staffing shortages and gang violence elevated.

Govt Director of Oklahoma Appleseed Colleen McCarty mentioned throughout COVID, when folks have been remoted from their households and different stress-releasing actions, they noticed a rise in violence in services, which led to extra routine lockdowns.

“We actually perceive that we’ve to maintain folks protected, however blocking folks away from their family members due to one particular person within the system that’s violent isn’t actually honest to all people and it actually lowers morale of the complete facility,” McCarty mentioned.

She performed a research for the Oklahoma legislature final fall on the impression of incarceration on households.

“Rising entry to households reduces recidivism and permits folks to extra simply reintegrate again into their communities when they’re launched,” McCarty mentioned.

Founding father of Ignite Justice Emily Shelton has a liked one within the Lawton Correctional Facility.

She’s hoping to vary how visitations are organized, presumably on-line.

“After we name, we get an answering machine,” Shelton mentioned. “We don’t get a name again. I do know moms who’ve been ready two months and nonetheless can’t get a go to as a result of they don’t get a name again.”

She mentioned not solely are these visits vital for these in jail, but additionally for relations who want the connection.

“It’s higher for his or her angle,” Shelton mentioned. “It’s higher for his or her psychological. It’s excellent for his or her psychological. They want that psychological stimulation with their household. I imply, even should you solely get to hug them for a second to start with and the tip of the go to, however that hug is every thing.”

The group will current its findings to the DOC on the finish of the summer season. The DOC will then determine what modifications, if any, to make relating to insurance policies in males’s prisons.

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