These policy guidelines are provided to strengthen prisoners' family ties and enhance relationships between incarcerated fathers and their children. Although the focus is fathers, the directives apply to incarcerated mothers as well. Implementation of these policies will enable a state to demonstrate its commitment to the maintenance of prisoner-family relationships and its recognition that inmate fathers are parents too. Visiting Schedules Children and their incarcerated parents should be permitted to have at a minimum, weekly visits. Visiting schedules should be flexible and permit weekday, weekend and evening visits.
Prison visiting schedules are restrictive and permit visiting only on certain days at certain times.
Schedules seldom take into consideration non-prison work and school schedules resulting in limited access for many families and individuals. Frequent contact between separated parents and children is important in preserving parent-child attachments. Visits provide children and parents ongoing opportunities for sharing memories, creating new experiences, and remaining in touch with each other. Providing a range of times when children may visit enhances the likelihood of frequent visiting. Children's caretakers and other family members are better able to arrange visits when options which do not unduly disrupt their regular schedules are available.