The Family Visits Program supports strong family bonds through virtual video visits. It provides a way for people in prison to play a meaningful role in their family's lives and implement the skills and strategies introduced to cultivate significant relationships that lead to successful reintegration.

The Family Visits Program is a voluntary program running in Victoria's men's and women's prisons. A video visit removes some of the environmental barriers of an in-person prison visit and allows families the opportunity to connect from the comfort of their own home. This program values any significant connections and an individual’s cultural and personal definition of family and is available to connections that aren't biological relatives.

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How it works

Strong family connections and positive new identities are important factors that can increase a person's desistance journey and ease the transition from prison to community. But involvement in the criminal justice system can often fray family relationships, causing people to see themselves only as a prisoner and not as a purposeful family member. Through regular, meaningful visits, the Family Visits Program offers a unique space to sustain meaningful connections pre-release.

The Family Visits Program is offered at all Victoria Government prisons, except Melbourne Assessment Prison (MAP), and the Judy Lazarus Transition Centre (JLTC).

This program is available at:

• Barwon Prison
• Beechworth Correctional Centre
• Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
• Hopkins Correctional Centre
• Marngoneet Correctional Centre (Karreenga)
• Langi Kal Kal Prison
• Loddon Prison (Middleton)
• Metropolitan Remand Centre
• Tarrengower Prison.

More information

Why Family Visits Program

Keeping families connected when someone goes to prison improves outcomes for them and their families and makes whole communities safer and stronger.

Eligibility

People who are sentenced with less than 12 months until their EED who have applied for parole or will be applying, are eligible.

People who are sentenced with less than 12 months until their EDD are eligible for this program.

People who are on remand are eligible for this program.

Further suitability is determined, and a participant's family member is required to be on their in-person visitor list. 

Vacro and Corrections Victoria value all close connections and an individual’s cultural and personal definition of family. The Family Visits Program will incorporate all significant connections in an individual’s life and can include dependents, one’s own parents, carers of children, siblings, partners, and close friends.

Referrals

This program accepts self-referrals. Referrals can be accessed by prison case workers, family engagement team in women's locations, and programs teams in men's locations.

Support

Family Visits Program is funded by the Department of Justice and Community Safety — Corrections Victoria.

More information

For more information about the Family Visits Program, please contact Victoria Stein, Family Programs Manager at [email protected]