Private Family Visiting Program

The aim of the Private Family Visiting Program is to enable inmates to develop and maintain positive family and community relationships that will assist them in preparing for reintegration into society as law-abiding citizens. Under the program, private family visits are allowed once every two months for periods of up to 72 hours per inmate. The actual frequency and duration of visits, however, are determined by the number of inmates participating in the program and the facilities available at the institution.
Visits take place in special family visiting units located within the institutional reserve in an area that provides as much privacy as reasonably possible. The fully furnished units have at least two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom.

Inmates are eligible for private family visiting except those inmates who are:

- assessed as being currently at risk of becoming involved in family violence
- in receipt of Unescorted Temporary Absences for the purpose of contact with family members
- in a Special Handling Unit or are awaiting a decision or have been approved for transfer to a Special Handling Unit.

Family members eligible to participate in the program are spouses, common-law partners, children, parents, foster-parents, siblings, grandparents, and persons with whom, in the opinion of the institutional
head, the inmate has a close familial bond.

Private family visits are subject to the procedures and regulations outlined in the booklet Private Family Visiting (http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/visit/index_e.shtml). For detailed information, refer to Commissioner's Directive 770 on Visiting (http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/plcy/cdshtm/770-cde_e.shtml) and the corresponding Guidelines.
First-time participants in the program should confer with the Officer-in Charge of private family visits at the appropriate institution.

can girlfriend qualify for PFV also? If can't, is there any trick?

yes you can. as long as youve been in contact for at least a year youre eligible.

Where do you find out what Camps allow this ?

thanks for your reply. my man still in detention centre, and i want to get more information to prepare everything. my man is still staying in Toronto East Detention Centre, he told me everything alright he can buy snack, puzzle game, etc. He call me everyday something in afternoon (75 cents per call for 20mins) because not many people waiting the phone. If he call in the evening the guys (inmate) only give the people 10mins. English is not my man first language, but the guys explain to him, teach him play cards and doing exercise together. I visited him 2 times per week (1 in weekday and 1 in weekend), but sometimes weekday is shorter than weekend.:thumbsup:

is your bf being moved to a federal facility? because if not, then you would only be allowed the visits you have now. the PFV program is only offered at federal facilities, like warkworth, millhaven, kingston pen, etc.

yep, i think he will be moving to federal

ok, well you should probably wait until after hes been assessed at Millhaven and sent to his "mother institution" to apply for PFVs. how long have you been in contact? have you lived together before he was incarcerated?

we're together more than two years but not living together. What's mean "mother institution"?

Mother institition means the place where he does his sentence, from Millhaven, they assess him, which takes up to 90 days then he is sent to either minimum, medium or maximum security prison. you may have to wait for a year from the time you began writing him to apply for PFVs though.

when he in "mother institution" can he call me or can i visit him behind the glass?

yes he can call you, and you can visit, though he will need to send you an application. the process usually takes 3-4 weeks to be approved and after that, you can visit regularly.

thank you, now i have a lot of idea because i'm worry when he got the sentence what can i do.

youre welcome. as far as the visits are concerned, you wont be behind glass if hes approved for contact visits. how long did he get for his sentence?

good news, my hubby got approved for private family visits yesterday :) Maybe we'll get one before his release in July.

congrulation

thats great leanne! i hope u have a great visit when you go :)

do u know where's the "mother institution"?

Ashley - thank you, how are things? I haven't seen you on MSN in ages.

PatPat - ok this is how it goes. if your boyfriend is sentenced to federal time (anything over 2 years) he will go to Millhaven first. He will then be assessed to see what type of security level he requires. He will then be transfered to the facility that he will serve out the majority of his sentence. The first place he is sent to after Millhaven is considered his mother institution.

Does anyone have a list of what items are allowed to be brought in for the private family visit?

Yes!! I look forward to having private family visits with my husband. once every 30 days.

Hi I'm very new to this whole prison thing. Before my husband I never knew a person who had even been to a prison for a visit. I still get nervous when I go to visit him. Anyway, I was wondering about the PFV's, how do they work? where do you stay? How do you get approved for them? How long does it take? I know alot of. questions but I'm still trying to muddle my way through this maze of stuff