In-Person Visits Return to Community Reintegration Center

Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

In-person visitation will return for the people incarcerated at the Community Reintegration Center, formerly known as the House of Correction.

Beginning Saturday, Dec. 23, in-person visits will be allowed at the CRC for the first time in more than a decade, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced Tuesday.

“Research shows individuals who maintain regular communication with their loved ones experience more positive outcomes upon their re-entry back into the community,” Crowley said in a statement. “We are bringing back in-person visits at the CRC so we can continue working to reduce recidivism, improve post-release outcomes of incarcerated individuals, and help these residents become socially and economically successful.”

The CRC and Milwaukee County Jail both have in-person visitation facilities, but have only allowed phone and video calling for some time. The CRC is under the authority of the county executive and the jail under the Milwaukee County Sheriff.

The jail stopped in-person visitation more than 20 years ago under former Sheriff David Clarke. In 2022, then-Jail Commander Aaron Dobson said the jail’s visitation area would need significant renovations to bring the practice back to the facility.

CRC Superintendent Chantell Jewell, who was appointed by Crowley in 2020, has previously said it was always her intention to bring visitation back to the facility, but that the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing shortages stood in the way.

“A video call is not the same as an in-person visit,” Jewell said in a statement Tuesday. “Research tells us that these visits reduce stress, improve mental health and ultimately make our facility easier to manage.”

The CRC averaged 974 people in-custody on any given day in September, according to a November report.

The facility does not operate to “administer punishment,” Jewell has previously said. “We are here to help address whatever need is there that is driving individuals into the criminal justice system.”

Both the jail and CRC have struggled with severe staffing shortages, forcing both institutions to rely on forced-overtime to keep up with daily operations. While both facilities employ corrections officers, they do not partner on recruitment and training efforts.

The CRC has steadily made gains with recruitment and employee retention throughout 2023. On Dec. 14, Jewell told the county board’s Committee on Finance that the facility was approximately 83% staffed up. Whereas, throughout 2022, CRC officials were reporting the facility was less than 60% staffed. Helping with that trend, the employee turnover rate has dropped from 55% in 2022 to 24% as of October.

For both the jail and the CRC, the 2024 Milwaukee County budget increases free phone and video calling, allowing 390 minutes of free phone calls and 60 minutes of video calls per inmate per year. Visitation at the CRC will begin at 7 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 23 and run until 7 p.m. On Dec. 24, visitation will run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Officials are still working on a regular visitation schedule for 2024.

Visits must be scheduled 24 hours in advance. More information is available on the CRC website.