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Young visitor urges better visitation, says pandemic-era changes still restrict families
Summary
John Whelan Ballantine, who has visited his father for more than a decade, told the committee visitation quality and access have deteriorated since the pandemic and urged more consistent staff practices and outside play time for children during visits.
John Whelan Ballantine, who described a decade of prison visitation experience, told the committee that visitation quality and time have degraded and that pandemic-era restrictions remain in place for years after they were introduced.
"Visitation has degraded in both quality and time... Changes made to accommodate the pandemic still continue 4 years later," Ballantine said, and urged the committee to restore consistent staff processing and regular outside time so children can play and connect with incarcerated parents. He said inconsistency across shifts means families sometimes lose significant visitation minutes and that better, low-cost changes could improve the rehabilitation value of family contact.
Ballantine's testimony was echoed by others who described long drives, fees and the emotional cost of shortened visits; lawmakers said they had the speakers' full testimony in writing and thanked them for appearing.
