A recent Urban Institute study, Housing D.C. Code Felons Away from Home: Effects on Crime, Recidivism and Reentry, concludes that housing prisoners hundreds of miles away from can break the link between families, and lead to a higher recidivism rate. Inmates from D.C. are sent to federal prisons or state prisons with federal contracts. According to testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, families relate that transportation is the biggest obstacle to visiting loved ones. The UI indicates that some inmates are sent as far as 500 miles away from home. While the report targets D.C. Code prisoners, many states build prisons in rural areas, far from the communities most inmates originally came from.
Several studies stress the importance of maintaining family contact while incarcerated. The UI study shows a direct correlation between family visits and the bond within the family after incarceration. When prisoners are able to see their children while incarcerated the parent-child link is not severed. Strong family connections while incarcerated are also found to lower the recidivism rate, and encourage formerly incarcerated persons to seek to be gainfully employed.
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