PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Visitors have not been allowed in Pennsylvania prisons for more than a year. Now visitation is being phased in at a five facilities, and the rest of the system will follow after enough people inside the prisons are vaccinated.
Visits must be scheduled three days in advance. All of the prisons have been divided into zones, and only one zone will be permitted visitation at a time. With high demand expected early on, available slots will probably fill quickly.
The rollout for visitation to begin at those five prisons:
SCI-Laurel Highlands – May 22
SCI-Waymart – May 27
SCI-Muncy – May 30
SCI-Cambridge Springs – May 31
Quehanna Boot Camp – June 3
Melissa Hainsworth, superintendent of SCI Laurel Highlands, says each visitor will get a mask and a temperature check before going in. And there are some other changes as well.
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"For example, we don’t have any vending machines right now. Our vending machines are empty," Hainsworth said. "We do not have our children’s area open at this point because there would be no way we could keep different groups separated."
Officials have reimagined prison operations during the pandemic to limit interaction and mitigate the spread of the virus. They say extra safety measures are being taken during visits to ensure everyone stays healthy.