The Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) will resume in person visitation at its secure care facilities for males on Saturday, February 12, 2022. Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), revised practices will be in place to allow for social distancing and safety standards in line with Covid-19 guidelines.
Unlike visitation, prior to the pandemic, all families must preschedule a 45-minute timeslot for visiting with youth. Extended visitation hours will be held on Saturdays and Sundays between 10:00am and 4:00pm. Special visits outside of those time periods may be requested by families and will be provided on a case-by-case basis. Staff will be on hand to sanitize visitation areas in between visits. Hand sanitizer stations will be accessible at all sites.
Families must contact the secure care facility they wish to visit to schedule a time slot for visitation.
- Bridge City Center for Youth, (225) 394-9623
- Swanson Center for Youth in Monroe and Columbia, (318) 953-4445
- Acadiana Center for Youth in Bunkie, (318) 346-0134
- All visitation will take place in visitation areas suited for proper social distancing. All visitors must follow social distance rules put forth by the facility.
- Each youth will be limited to two (2) visitors that must be verified as family members.
- In addition to normal entry checks, all visitors must pass a temperature check and Covid-19 screening.
- Visitors and youth will be provided disposable protective face masks that must be worn at all times.
Visiting Youth in Secure Care
Support from family members is very important to the treatment process. Visits from family motivate and inspire youth to participate in programming and meet the goals of his treatment plan, which may result in an earlier release date. Visitation times have been set by each facility. Special visits and videoconferences due to transportation or other issues can be arranged through the facility or regional office.
Youth in secure care create a visitor list with help from his case manager or counselor. To ensure safety at visitation, potential visitors must provide basic information and submit to a criminal history check and be granted visitation rights prior to visiting youth. More information on this process can be obtained from the secure care facilities.