Video visits to link parents, juveniles

A $1,494 grant from the state Office of Justice Assistance will help Dane County Juvenile Court launch a program using videoconferencing technology to make it easier for parents to stay in touch with their incarcerated children.

The grant will help purchase videoconferencing equipment to be located at the Juvenile Reception Center in the City-County Building in downtown Madison. Parents who have children incarcerated in state juvenile facilities elsewhere in the state can come to the center to be "connected" by video with them. Similar equipment already is available at the state's three state juvenile institutions – Ethan Allen School in Wales, Lincoln Hills in Irma, and Southern Oaks in Union Grove.

Dane County Juvenile Court Administrator John Bauman is helping establish a program that will allow juveniles incarcerated in the state facilities to participate in "video visits" with parents who are unable to travel.

"Kids who stay connected with their families while they are incarcerated have a better chance of not repeating a crime," said Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Albert, who serves as the county's presiding juvenile judge. Video visits are no substitute for personal visits, but some families are unable to travel to Wales, for example, because of limited transportation options or child-care demands, Albert said.

If successful, the Dane County program could serve as a model for other counties, where videoconferencing equipment often is already available.

The Dane County project, which is expected to be launched later this year when equipment has been delivered, is a joint effort by the Dane County Juvenile Court, the state Department of Corrections, and the state court system.

The idea for the video visits program stemmed from a discussion at the Dane County Juvenile Court's award ceremony earlier this year, said John Bauman, Dane County juvenile court administrator.

In remarks made during the ceremony, Rhonda Voigt, Dane County Human Services liaison to the state Department of Corrections, discussed the importance of family contact for incarcerated juveniles, and how much difficulty some parents face in arranging visits.

After hearing Voigt's remarks, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson – the keynote speaker – suggested the idea of using videoconferencing equipment already in place at many courthouses and other facilities throughout the state.

"The video visits program is an attractive proposition, not only because it should help reduce recidivism, but also because it should be affordable to implement," Abrahamson said. "The Wisconsin court system is looking forward to seeing the results from the Dane County pilot project, and taking full advantage of this technology," Abrahamson added.

Juvenile Court and state Corrections officials are still working on procedures to implement the program, which should be up and running later in the year, Bauman said. The Dane County Juvenile Court anticipates making space available for parents to conduct video visits, roughly between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., Monday through Friday. Video visit hours may vary, depending on schedules and the availability of staff at each correctional program and video visit site.

Juvenile Reception Center staff will help coordinate the program. Bauman predicted the service may initially be used a few times a week. Dane County typically has between 40-50 youth in Corrections facilities at any given time, Bauman said.

Studies show that juveniles make better progress and have fewer behavior issues while in institutions if they have regular contact with their parents or guardians, Bauman said.

"By utilizing this technology, the hope is that more minority and other parents will have the ability to visit with their children and institution staff, more frequently, and will help the juveniles do better and shorten their length of time in the correctional placement," Bauman wrote in the grant application.

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