The Shadow
RICHMOND, Va. (VR) – Assisting Families of Inmates (AFOI), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting families and children impacted by the incarceration of a loved one, announced today that the cost of video visitation within the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC), previously
20 cents-per-minute, has been reduced to 15 cents-per-minute effective January 1, 2025. The cost of video visitation will further decrease to 12 cents-per-minute on July 1, 2025.
Family and friends using the system to visit within the VADOC will see the January 1 reduction (15 cents-per-minute) in effect beginning Monday, January 13. Beginning July 1, 2025, the 15 cents-per- minute rate will be reduced to 12 cents-per-minute. For more information, or for access to AFOI’s Visitation Assistance Fund for subsidy support with video visits, please visit the AFOI website at afoi.org.
AFOI has been a pioneer in video visitation for Virginia, offering video visits from visitor centers throughout the Commonwealth since 2010, and expanding to offer video visitation from home in 2019. AFOI currently partners with ViaPath Technologies and the VADOC to provide these vital
connections.
“Access to video visitation with friends and loved ones is a crucial component of successful reentry,” said VADOC Director Chad Dotson. “We are very excited that these services will now be more affordable than ever and will continue to help our inmates strengthen and preserve their bonds with their families and support networks, which will hopefully continue to improve recidivism and public safety in Virginia. I thank AFOI and ViaPath Technologies for their continued partnership and the services they provide to inmates and their loved ones.”
“Reducing costs associated with visitation has been a priority of AFOI’s since program inception,” said AFOI Executive Director Fran Bolin. “We understand the value of visits to families, and we also understand cost impacts that families may experience as a hardship, especially today. Supportive, positive connections are a benefit to families, and to the Commonwealth as a whole; as these connections are essential to successful reentry, recidivism reduction and increased public safety.
“We are very pleased to have been able to continue to expand the program while also continuing to reduce the cost of visits to families. By July 1, 2025, we will have successfully instituted the program’s fourth cost reduction while also working alongside VADOC to expand access throughout
all of Virginia’s prisons over the past year. AFOI thanks both the Virginia Department of Corrections and our technology partner, ViaPath Technologies, for their continuing work – program enhancements, expansion, improvements, increased access, and cost reductions to consumers – all of these things have been successfully accomplished over the past five years. AFOI looks forward to continuing our critical and intentional programming on behalf of families impacted by the incarceration of a loved one.”
Founded in 1978, AFOI is a Richmond-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving families of the incarcerated with evidence-based programs providing meaningful visitation, family support and children’s programs. Please visit www.afoi.org for more information.
