A representative for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said staff are working around the clock to provide information to families, but that it is “entirely impossible to keep every single inmate’s support system updated” without redirecting the staff who are “working to keep their loved one safe.” The department has posted their coronavirus precautions online, noting that routine medical visits and appointments with specialists may be delayed or rescheduled.
Many corrections systems across the country have used Twitter or Facebook to notify the public about the steps they are taking to prevent the transmission of coronavirus within their facilities. But many of the families and friends who responded to our callout say they haven’t received the messages and lack a direct line into the prison to find out more.
Some friends and family members aren’t surprised by prison officials’ lack of communication during this crisis. For others, the experience is eye-opening.
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Before last year, Debbie Sessa didn’t believe the horror stories she’d heard about prison. She didn’t know anyone behind bars until her friend and former coworker was sent to Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut in January. Her friend, who is 62, stays in a dorm with more than 30 other women. Sessa says her friend called a few days ago to say that two women in her dorm went to the hospital for a routine test, but when they returned to the prison, they were placed in isolation.
Her friend doesn’t know why they were moved out of the dorm. But Sessa is worried that if they were exposed to the virus at the hospital, her friend and all the other women living in her proximity could be at risk.
“I can’t relax. I can’t sleep,” Sessa said. “I used to hear things about prison and think: ‘That’s not really happening.’ And now I am hearing things and I am like: ‘Oh my God!’”
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which oversees several of the facilities included in this article, did not respond to requests for comment.
Providing incomplete information or downplaying the threat coronavirus poses could have unintended consequences, some family members say. Many respondents noted their loved ones and other prisoners are watching the news, seeing entire cities shut down around them as governors across the country issue shelter-in-place orders to prevent the spread of coronavirus. As the stress mounts, and the threat of an outbreak or lockdown intensifies, many say they’re worried about violence erupting.
Source: “They Don’t Care:” Families Of The Incarcerated Fear The Worst As Coronavirus Spreads
