WEE THREAD
Hello! I know there are some prisons and prison officers that follow me on here and I thank you for that. I wanted just to give you a "heads-up" on a thing that has come to my attention regarding the video visits taking place in your jails. Don't worry it's not a rant!

Some of the residents are having a bit of a shock when seeing their house, pets, furniture etc again after either such a long time or knowing they won't see these things again for a while. One even wanted to know why their partner had repainted their living room!

May sound silly, I know but It is causing some of them to go back to their wing in a haze, saying they don't want to do them again as it was too much of a mind melt for them to see their loved one sitting at home.

Visits in the jail is fine as it is "a neutral, familiar" setting for them but them being in a prison and their loved one at home brings back all those separation issues again.

So, could I ask that when leaving the visit, your staff just ask the resident how it went? A tiny little debrief of 2 minutes might just be enough for the person to feel ok.

Thanks so much

Oh! Can I also ask that you do this when you your new visits start up ? The non contact could also be traumatic and this if you that are using screens (to which I make no comment) understand that this will feel like a “closed” visit.

So just a small debrief with the resident at the end could work wonders. Heck , go the extra mile and talk to the visits as well. Explain to them why, how etc !

Thank you all so much.