CA Dept. of Corrections (hereinafter “CDC” or “CDCnotR”) which has a colossal budget of ~$14 Billion annually, in conjunction with GTL, implemented a new visiting system/website (herein after “Visit Kiosk” in March 2021 for its 34 State Prisons which consistently incarcerates ~100,000 Humans.  

The Visit Kiosk system was intended to streamline Video & In-Person visit appointments & considering CDC’s budget & today’s technical/internet capabilities, there is no excuse why the Visit Kiosk should not operate as intended. Unfortunately, the Visit Kiosk has proved to be yet another form of punitive punishment & unduly burdensome on impacted families.

Currently, the Visit Kiosk splits the 34 Prisons between two (2) days, Thursday & Friday @ 6AM. This appointment set up drives ~50,000 impacted families to the Visit Kiosk simultaneously, overwhelming & crashing the website. All Visit Appointments are GONE by 6:10AM.

We have sent emails to CDCnotR & GTL & receive only canned replies such as “GTL is aware” or “We are working on it”. This has been happening for ~8 months now to no avail. Families haven’t been able to secure appointments & some are going on 600+ days of no visits. 

Additionally, not all facilities are offering Video & In-Person options which is UNACCEPTABLE. All Facilities are capable of providing both Visit options. 

All of this is on top of the Tablets CDC & GTL promised would be in our loved ones’ hands by end of 2021. The ones that have been received don’t work & we are told Tablets will not be available until February 2022.

Given the toll of COVID & almost 2 years with no visits, competent systems or handling, the time has come for us to make our voices heard to Gov. Gavin Newsom, CA Legislature & CDCnotR. 

Please sign to: 
 1.  Support keeping families together  
 2.  All 34 Prisons MUST have Video & In-Person options
 3.  Appointment Scheduling for all 34 Prisons need to be split between ALL 7 days of the week