Shapiro Budget Cuts Program Key To Stopping Recidivism, Advocates Say

HARRISBURG, PA — A longstanding program which prison advocates say is the number one factor in preventing recidivism in inmates will receive no funding under Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed budget.

The family connection program, which helps to facilitate regular visits to inmates from family members, has been a mainstay in Pennsylvania Department of Corrections policy for 20 years. Funding stopped for obvious reasons during the pandemic, when in-person visits stopped, but

"According to the Department's own research, regular in-person family visits while in prison are the number one intervention to prevent recidivism," the Pennsylvania Prison Society said in a statement. "It is a small investment with a big benefit to community safety."

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The program is a basic one, but crucial to those with limited resources. It provides affordable busing for families who need to travel from more than two hours away to visit a loved one behind bars.

Gov. Shapiro's office and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to a Patch request for comment on the decision to eliminate funding to the program.

The most recent statistics from the Department of Corrections indicate that regular family visits were correlated to a 20 percent decrease in recidivism.

The Prison Society said they get calls daily asking for help to visit family members in Pennsylvania prisons. For Lakyra Stokes, who used drive 2.5 hours from Philadelphia to SCI Waymart in Wayne County to visit her husband, the visits kept them both motivated.

"It gives him this drive, like, 'yeah, I’ve gotta work harder to get home,'" she told the Society.

Though the family connections program was not funded, Shapiro, the state's former attorney general, included millions of dollars in his budget to expand the state police force.