Video Conferencing Technology Increases Virtual Services
Innovative approach makes it possible for CCA facilities to conduct business and provide services remotely
With benefits that span from tighter safety and security to enhanced communication between inmates and their families, CCA facilities are increasingly using video conferencing technology for inmate visitation, psychological consultations, medical visits, court appearances and more.
Virtual Visitation
Sixteen CCA facilities currently use video conferencing to deliver on-site and long-distance inmate visitation services. Video visitation maintains a safe and secure environment, as inmates use conferencing stations installed in their housing unit to virtually touch base with friends and family members.
Saguaro Correctional Facility, located in Eloy, Ariz., houses inmates from Hawaii and uses the technology to connect inmates with their loved ones back home.
“We have 40 to 50 video visits a day,” says Todd Thomas, warden at Saguaro. “This technology offers value to our facility, our customers and inmate families.”
Hawaii-based relatives of offenders at Saguaro coordinate virtual visitations with the facility. The facility’s video visitation schedule is based on those requests.
“The inmates get to talk with their family on a weekly basis at no cost to them or their families,” says Thomas. “Having that connection with their families goes a long way with their behavior and thought processes. And that’s good for everyone.”
Medical On-Demand
Video conferencing is increasingly being used to diagnose and treat inmates in non-critical or after-hours situations.
Psychology sessions delivered via video conference have been an effective delivery modality for CCA for nearly five years. Currently, five CCA facilities use tele-medicine, including CCA’s Kentucky facilities, Otter Creek Correctional Center and Marion Adjustment Center.
“Due to the rural area and high demand of psychology professionals, we struggled to employ a psychologist on site at our Kentucky facilities,” says Gingy Grider, CCA director, Clinical Services. “Using video conferencing technology enabled us to provide psychology services to the inmates. Tele-medicine works well, particularly in psychology, because typically those sessions involve only observation and dialogue.”
Additionally, CCA has used video conferencing technology to liaise with a local medical center. “An on-call nurse can triage the inmate for a number of factors and determine if immediate medical attention is necessary,” says Bobby Phillips, CCA director of Security.
Limiting the movement of inmates from the secure confines of the correctional facility reduces the security threat to the inmate and community.
“Any time you can provide a service to an offender within the institution, as opposed to taking that offender off site, you are maintaining the high level of security that can only happen within the secure walls of the facility,” explains Phillips.
Tele-Court
Six CCA facilities are using video conferencing technology to hold court appointments, including arraignments and parole hearings. Tele-court saves correctional agencies the expense of transporting offenders to and from off-site locations, especially with out-of-state inmates, where flights and increased logistical issues can compound costs.
“At Saguaro, we use video conferencing to provide tele-court services as well,” explains Thomas. “If we didn’t, Hawaii would have to pay to bring offenders back for each court appearance. That would equate to thousands of dollars in transportation costs. The same function can be accomplished with a video appearance and you’re better managing limited resources.”
The Specs on High-Tech
CCA has been using video conferencing for more than five years to increase efficiencies, maintain a high level of security, lower transportation expenses and liability and provide value to government partners.
But technology needs and CCA expectations are continuously growing. “We are working on our infrastructure to improve the quality of the video conferencing,” says Aaron Carver, CCA audio-visual network administrator. “Our goal is to provide quality that’s as close to television as possible.”
To provide secure video conferencing within facility housing units, CCA worked with vendor PolyCom to custom-fit the technology inside an enclosure that is tamper-resistant.
“We are installing video conferencing stations that inmates can not destroy,” says Carver. “They are solid and stable.”
CCA can provide video conferencing technology to customers anytime. Requests for such capabilities are typically made in a partnering agency’s request for proposal or contract.
“Anytime we can utilize video conferencing, with customer compliance, it is a benefit to the entire correctional community,” says Phillips.
CCA Source, Fall 2009
Sound Out
Gary Cox at NEOCC:
I do the Video conferening at NEOCC. The ability to have inamtes go to courts or to see USPOs without leaving our secured area is god send to us, the courts, and the public.