COVID-19 and Family Visits: A Systematic Jurisdiction Analysis of Family Visitation and Safety Policies in Juvenile Correctional Facilities in the United States
| Published date | 01 December 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14732254241248619 |
| Author | Julissa O. Muñiz,Frederique Corcoran,Mariah Camper,Samuel Gruber,J. Mark Eddy,Danielle Dallaire |
| Date | 01 December 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254241248619
Youth Justice
2024, Vol. 24(3) 480 –505
© The Author(s) 2024
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DOI: 10.1177/14732254241248619
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COVID-19 and Family Visits: A
Systematic Jurisdiction Analysis of
Family Visitation and Safety Policies
in Juvenile Correctional Facilities in
the United States
Julissa O. Muñiz , Frederique Corcoran,
Mariah Camper, Samuel Gruber, J. Mark Eddy
and Danielle Dallaire
Abstract
When COVID-19 first hit the United States, juvenile correctional facilities across the country discontinued
all in-person activities including family visits. Correctional facilities across the country were among the last
institutions to reopen their doors for in-person activities given the heightened risk of rapid spread. Drawing
on data gathered in February and March 2022, this study examined the state of family visitation policies and
COVID-19 safety responses adopted by juvenile correctional facilities, as reported on websites, including
information on the different types of contact allowed; COVID-19 safety protocols and practices; availability
of information on COVID-19 infection and vaccination rates; and the overall timeliness, consistency, and
comprehensiveness of the information available to families with incarcerated minor children. Our findings
highlight just how untimely, inconsistent, and incomprehensive information and policies were across
jurisdictions, sometimes with little to no stated explanation for their decision-making. We argue that juvenile
correctional facilities should take a family-focused approach when developing and disseminating policies that
impact the lives of incarcerated youth and their families, especially in times of global uncertainty.
Keywords
correctional policy and practice, COVID-19, family visits, juvenile justice
Introduction
It is estimated that on any given day in the United States, there are approximately 47,000
youth under some form of court-ordered confinement (Sawyer and Wagner, 2022). The
majority, approximately 36,000, are held in juvenile correctional facilities under the
authority of the juvenile justice system (JJS). Due to the unprecedented challenges of
Corresponding author:
Julissa O. Muñiz, Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, Moore Hall, 457 Portola Plaza, Los
Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Email: julissa.muniz.90@gmail.com
1248619YJJ0010.1177/14732254241248619Youth JusticeMuñiz et al.
research-article2024
Original Article
Muñiz et al. 481
COVID-19, states and counties throughout the United States adopted decarceration strate-
gies to minimize the risk and spread of COVID-19 within correctional facilities (Muñiz
et al., 2023; Dallaire et al., 2021). The United States was one of several countries that
adopted policies and practices to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In doing so, many
countries, including the United States, adopted policies to help reduce the number of
youth in custody. It is estimated that nearly 45,000 court-involved youth were released
across 54 countries within the first few months of the pandemic (United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), 2021). In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) identified correctional facilities as especially vulnerable to the rapid
spread of COVID-19 due the number of people confined in close quarters and the poor
access to reliable medical care and personal protection equipment (PPE). As a result, pris-
ons, jails, and youth correctional facilities were shut down, strict COVID-19 measures
were implemented, and all in-person activities, including family visits, were discontinued.
Although many restrictions were later modified and eventually lifted once the COVID-19
vaccine was created and made available to the general public, correctional facilities were
among the last institutions in the United States to fully lift their restrictions given the dis-
parate risk of COVID-19 transmission.
For months following the initial shutdown, youth correctional facilities nationwide
remained closed to the public meaning families with minor children who were incarcer-
ated were unable to see, much less touch, their children. Likewise, youth who were already
struggling with the reality of their socio-legal disposition were forced to navigate both
confinement and a deadly pandemic away from their families and loved ones. When pos-
sible, families relied on other mediums of communication, including phone calls, video
calls, letters, emails, and photographs, some of which were made available to incarcerated
youth and their families. Recent research (Muñiz et al., 2023; Dallaire et al., 2021) has
documented some of these COVID-19-related shifts in visitation policies and protocols,
but both studies solely examined adult correctional facilities. At the start of the pandemic,
the United Nations issued a technical note to detaining authorities discussing ways in
which the safety and protection of youth deprived of their liberties could be ensured
(Alliance for Child Protection and Humanitarian Action (ACPHA) and United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2020). Researchers in Australia, Costa Rica, England, Ireland,
Mexico, and Wales also explored the impact of pandemic-related visitation restrictions on
youths’ mental health and participation in justice processes (Gordon et al., 2021; Hampson
et al., 2023; Kasinathan et al., 2021; Lynch and Kilkelly, 2021; Ochoa et al., 2022). These
are just a few of several studies focused on the effects of COVID-19 on adjudicated youth.
While the findings of these various studies are insightful, we know far less about how
COVID-19 policies and practices impacted visitation policies and by extension youth
detained in juvenile correctional facilities in the United States.
This study addresses this gap by examining the juvenile justice websites for each of the
fifty states and, in some cases, the largest jurisdictions’ county-level websites to investi-
gate their response to COVID-19 and their approach to family visits during the ongoing
pandemic. The United States, like other countries around the world, battled multiple
COVID-19 variants including Delta and Omicron. Data collection occurred weeks into
the Omicron surge which delayed the anticipated reopening of numerous correctional
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