PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In-person visits have resumed at Pennsylvania’s state corrections facilities, but some families are having a hard time getting in.
The State Correctional Institute at Phoenix opened for in-person visits four days ago. Visiting hours are longer for those who see loved ones there.
Superintendent Jaime Sorber said all in person visits have to be scheduled through the Corrections Department website.
"There's a link that all families and friends and loved ones can go to, and there's some instructions there on how to schedule," said Sorber.
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To set up a visit, a family member or friend must login to the site, set up an account and a password, and must be on the inmate’s authorized visitors list.
The Corrections Department said visits must be scheduled 3 days in advance. Anyone who shows up without an online appointment will be turned away.
Sorber added that it has been difficult for inmates and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's been a strain to say the least," said Sorber. "It's been a strain on the inmates, it's been a strain on the families, just trying to maintain that communication.”
For some of these families, online visit registration has been a major strain, because they may not have a computer, or if they do, they don’t use it often.
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Janet Cintron’s son Jorge is an inmate at Phoenix. She doesn’t use a computer and even has trouble with a cell phone and all of its options.
Cintron said she had to get a friend of Jorge’s to help set up the in-person visit, because navigating the corrections website was so daunting.
"It took almost an hour for us to get it on," she said.
"Older people at least that don’t deal with computers and or have phones, they need to do something so they can visit their loved ones, because everybody doesn't own computers. Everybody doesn't own a cell phone, and what are these people going to do to visit their loved ones?”
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