Update

As we gather with loved ones for the holidays, we’re reminded of the importance of family connection for people in prison. Our work to strengthen these bonds took a significant step forward this year, with the successful completion of a pilot program to restore bus service to Pennsylvania state prisons. 

‍Working in cooperation with the Department of Corrections, the Prison Society made it possible for incarcerated people to receive more than 150 visits from loved ones who traveled on bus routes to two state prisons.

We are working to get the DOC’s support to expand the service to more prisons and bring the buses back permanently. The investment in this affordable transportation option not only helps keep families together, but brings tangible benefits to incarcerated people, the prisons where they reside, and the communities to which they will return.

‍Buses help families make first visits in years

The buses made it possible for Malika to visit her father in State Correctional Institution (SCI) Mahanoy in January for the first time since the pandemic, when in-person visits were suspended for over a year.

“The visit was wonderful,” she said. They shared food and “caught up on things past and present.”

The Prison Society’s bus service had been helping people like Malika, who doesn’t drive, visit loved ones in state prison for 18 years, until it was paused during the pandemic. It served 21 facilities and made 10 trips a month, facilitating over 3,000 visits a year.

After nearly four years, this year’s pilot program restored round-trip routes from Philadelphia to two prisons, SCI Mahanoy and SCI Greene, over six months, making a total of 12 trips. Many of the riders hadn’t visited a prison in more than a year, and several were first-time visitors.

The drive to SCI Greene from Philadelphia is 7 hours. Without a car, someone making the trip would have to take two buses and then walk almost a mile to get to SCI Greene. It would take at least 11 hours and cost approximately $150. The Prison Society’s bus provided a direct trip at only $40 per ticket.

Malika said she would definitely ride the Prison Society bus again: “I know for a fact that I’ll buy another ticket.”

‍Good feelings translate to life-changing benefits

While phone calls, letters, and video calls can help people stay connected with incarcerated loved ones, nothing can replace the feeling – and the benefits – of visiting in person.

Lakyra Stokes used to ride a Prison Society bus to visit her husband in SCI Waymart before the pandemic. 

"I know things are going to be okay, eventually, when he hugs me," she said. “It releases some sort of happiness that causes you to be more productive.” And it has the same effect on her husband.

"It gives him this drive, like, 'Yeah, I’ve gotta work harder to get home.'”

Those good feelings translate into measurable benefits with life-changing impact. Multiple studies have found that people who receive more visits while incarcerated are less likely to commit a new crime or violate the conditions of their parole after being released. The DOC’s own 2022 report on recidivism in state prisons found that incarcerated people who received four or more visits per month had three-year recidivism rates (defined as re-incarceration or re-arrest) that were 20 percentage points lower than those who received no visitors.

In-person visits also promote a safer prison environment. Studies have found that rates of rule-breaking behavior and misconduct are lower among incarcerated people who receive visits.

And, as Malika’s story shows, visiting helps parents and children cope when incarceration keeps them apart. Her father was sent to prison before she was born, but Malika has visited him in prison regularly throughout her life. She was 30 when she started riding the Prison Society’s bus to visit him again this year.

“If you don’t see your family, you start to lose hope,” she said. “You start to give up on yourself.”

‍Research links visiting a parent in prison with improved self-esteem, fewer feelings of alienation from the incarcerated parent, and a reduction in school dropouts and suspensions. 

The benefits of visiting go both ways, the research shows. Incarcerated mothers have less distress and depression, and incarcerated fathers feel less parenting stress and are more involved with their children’s lives when they go home.

Because of the frequent visits with her father, Malika said, “He’s been in prison, and he’s never missed a beat of my life.”