Community Program Unit Remote Inmate Video Visits

Community Program Unit

Address:
2501 Ortiz Avenue
Ft. Meyers, FL 33905
Phone:
239-477-1500

Schedule a Video Visit with an Inmate at the Community Program Unit

Community Program Unit values the importance of keeping inmates connected to their families and friends. Maintaining close relationships with loved ones is crucial for an inmate's successful reintegration upon release and helps reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

One way Community Program Unit supports this (or will soon) is by offering remote video visitation. This system allows loved ones to connect with inmates via video kiosks inside the jail or through tablets, provided by a third-party service working with the facility.

The benefits of video visitation include:

• It boosts inmate morale.
• Enables inmates to maintain contact with family, friends, and children.
• Reduces the time and cost required for staff to manage in-person visits.
• Generates revenue for the facility.
• Helps prevent the spread of illnesses.
• Limits the possibility of contraband entering the jail.

For more information on video visits, call the facility at 239-477-1500, or scroll down for answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Community Program Unit Inmate Visitation Schedule

ATTENTION: Visits for all Lee County jail facilities (Main Jail, Core and CPU’s) take place at the Lee County Inmate Visitation Center, located at the Ortiz facility:
2501 Ortiz Ave
Fort Myers, FL 33905
239-258-3773

• First, you MUST register with GTL/ViaPath and schedule your visit in advance.
  
• All Visits are conducted through a video monitor.
• Each inmate is allowed two(2) one-hour visits per week.
• Plan on arriving and checking in at least 15 minutes before your scheduled visit.
• Inmates are allowed up to five people (family & friends) on their Visitor List. Updates are allowed once every four months.
• No more than two visitors from the Inmate's Authorized Visitor List will be allowed per visit (children under one year are not included in that count).
• You must arrive with a valid, government issued photo ID, as does any visitor older than 16 years of age.
• Attorneys & Clergy Visits are treated differently. They aren't on the inmates list and they don't require appointments.

Frequently Asked Questions about Remote Video Visits

What is a video visit, and how do they work?

Who are the companies that facilitate video visits?

What is a video visit, and how do they work?

Video visitation, also known as remote visitation, is quickly becoming the preferred method for visiting an inmate in jail or prison for the following reasons:

•    It requires little to no staff, versus the staff required to move inmates to and from the visit and watch over the visit. It saves the Community Program Unit money.
•    It removes any opportunity for contraband (drugs) to enter the facility.
•    It can become a profit center for the facility, given that the revenue generated by visits is shared with the jail.
•    While inmates prefer to see family and friends in person, video visitation allows them to visit with them more often, and on a whim.
•    Video visitation gives the inmates and their visitors the feeling of more privacy.

Video visitation from the perspective of the visitor allows them to visit from their home, their car, at work, and even allows them to take their device to a family or religious gathering. It allows them to give their inmate the feeling of belonging and not being forgotten.

Video visitation can take place on a computer, a tablet or a phone. 

Video visitation saves time. Instead of spending hours driving to the jail, checking in, filling out paperwork, potentially being searched, waiting, and then having a 15–30-minute visit, if it isn’t cancelled at the last minute, the visit can be done from anywhere during a short break in the visitor’s day.

If the visitor does not have access to a phone or computer, they can make an appointment ahead of time and use terminals in the lobby of the jail.

You must also be on the inmate's approved list, even for a video visit.

Who are the companies that facilitate video visits?

There are several different companies that contract with all the jails and prisons that allow video visitation:

These are the companies in alphabetical order:

CIDNET
City Tele Coin
Correct Solutions Group
Correct Pay
Ctel
Gettingout
GTL
Homewav
IC Solutions
Inmate Canteen
Inmate Sales
iwebvisits
JailATM
Jpay
Gettingintouch (netvisit)
NCIC
Prodigy Sales
Reliance
Securus
Smart Communications
Tiger Services
Visitel
In addition, some jails use Microsoft Meeting and Zoom.