Prison Policy Initiative testifies in support of creating a right to visitation for people in Colorado’s prisons

by Sarah Staudt, February 6, 2025

Yesterday, Prison Policy Initiative’s Advocacy Director, Sarah Staudt, testified in the House Judiciary Committee in the Colorado Legislature to support a bill that would guarantee visitation rights to people in Colorado prisons.

HB25-1013, sponsored by Representatives Regina English and Jennifer Bacon, would make visitation a right, not a privilege, for people in Colorado prisons. While the Department of Corrections would maintain the ability to restrict visitation for safety reasons, visitation would no longer be able to be taken away for disciplinary reasons, like as punishment for refusing work within the prison.

At the request of Together Colorado, we provided testimony about the wealth of research that shows that visitation is vital for helping incarcerated people maintain their mental health, reintegrate into society, and avoid returning to the criminal legal system.

Visitation has numerous benefits for incarcerated people, including decreasing recidivism; people who experience visitation were 25% less likely to be rearrested within two years of release from prison. Visitation also improves the likelihood of employment after release. Incarcerated people who had family visitation had odds of finding employment almost 2 times higher than those who were not visited by family. Lastly, visitation helps incarcerated people cope with the inherent stressors of incarceration, decreasing mental health issues.

Visitation is also a key tool in decreasing the harm that incarceration causes to children and families beyond prison walls. Nationwide, half of people in prison are parents to minor children, including 80% of all incarcerated women. Incarceration of a parent is a stressor for children that affects overall wellbeing, family dynamics, poor school performance, and a heightened risk of eventual involvement in the criminal legal system. Visitation with family has been shown to lessen these negative outcomes.

Prison Policy Initiative is proud to support HB25-1013, and hopes that it can serve as a model for legislatures around the country to improve access to visitation for incarcerated people.