New Jersey’s prisons are resuming visits starting Friday.
The announcement comes as COVID-19 positive cases are holding at less than 1 percent among the staff and inmate populations, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
The visits will be limited and must be scheduled with the prison being visited.
All visitors must wear masks while on prison grounds, with the exemptions for those younger than 2 or with a valid doctor’s note.
The maximum visitors per inmate will be limited to two adults and two children.
Each visitor will have their temperature scanned, answer questions regarding possible COVID-19 exposure and sign an agreement acknowledging the revised visitation guidelines.
“The vast decline of COVID-19 positive cases across our facilities is encouraging and proof that our virus mitigation strategies, including our social distancing efforts, are working,” said NJDOC Commissioner Marcus O. Hicks. “Although we know we cannot go back to normal operations at this time, between our universal testing data and guidance from public health experts, we are able to make informed decisions on the resumption of activities and services that provide much-needed support and some semblance of normalcy for the incarcerated population within a COVID-19 world.”
The Department recently resumed select inmate activities, including inter-institutional transfers of inmates from the Central Reception and Assignment Facility to their assigned facility, intake of individuals from the county jails, and inter-Residential Community Release Program house transfers. Transporting of the aforementioned groups includes donning of proper PPE, sanitization of vehicles and social distancing.
Individuals entering and transferring within NJDOC facilities will be tested for COVID-19 and held on a 14-day quarantine prior to being placed in the general population within the receiving facilities.
The Gateway Substance Abuse Program has also resumed individualized treatment programs.
In-person one-on-one and small group mental health services are also operational along with select inmate services under the Division of Programs and Community Services, including Successful Transition and Reentry Series, Chaplaincy Services and State Facilities Education Activities Student-Inmates and adult basic education courses.
All resumed programs will incorporate public health guidance on virus mitigation, including the use of PPE, social distancing and sanitization.
Group activities will be smaller where applicable, and services will be consolidated and more frequent. NJDOC continues to test incarcerated people and staff for COVID-19 at regular intervals.
The newly established processes are provisional and may be further modified or rolled back depending upon updated testing.
