The Delaware Family Survival Guide: What to Do When Someone You Love Goes to Prison

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Internal links: Delaware inmate search, Delaware reentry resources, send money, letters and photos, visitation, How Prison Works hub

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The Delaware Family Survival Guide: What to Do When Someone You Love Goes to Prison

Nobody hands you a manual the day this happens. One day your son, your husband, your daughter, your father is a phone call away. The next, they are an SBI number inside the Delaware Department of Correction, a small but unusual system that handles things differently from most of the country.

I am going to walk you through it the way someone who has lived inside a system like this would explain it to you. No jargon, no false comfort. What is true, and what to do about it. We will cover where your person is, how to find them, the first weeks, money, staying connected, and how and when they might come home, which in Delaware works differently than families expect.

First, Understand Delaware Runs One Unified System

Delaware does corrections in a way that catches families off guard, so start here. Delaware runs a unified system. The Delaware Department of Correction, the DOC, operates everything: the places that function as jails for people awaiting trial, and the prisons for people serving sentences. There is no separate network of county sheriffs running their own jails the way larger states have.

In Delaware, the difference between jail and prison is mostly about the length of the sentence, not about which agency holds you. A sentence of a year or less is treated as a jail sentence, and more than a year is a prison sentence, but both are served in the same DOC facilities, which are multi-purpose and hold pretrial detainees and sentenced people together. So whether your person was just arrested and is being held before trial, or has been sentenced, they are almost certainly in a DOC facility. You are dealing with one agency.

Two other systems can still come into play. Federal prison, run by the Bureau of Prisons, is separate and searched at bop.gov. And ICE immigration detention is its own system, searched through the ICE detainee locator. One Delaware-specific wrinkle: the state has at times had an agreement to house some Delaware inmates in Pennsylvania facilities. So if your person seems to have been moved out of state, that arrangement may be why, and you would confirm it through the Delaware DOC.

How to Actually Find Them in the Delaware System

Your person is identified by an SBI number, which stands for State Bureau of Identification. That is their key identifier in Delaware, and you will need it for almost everything, so write it down.

To find someone, Delaware points families to two tools. The Delaware DOC maintains an online offender locator, and the state also relies heavily on VINELink, the free notification and lookup network. Search by name or SBI or DOC number to see custody status and facility. Just as importantly, register on VINELink so you are automatically alerted by phone, text, or email when your person is transferred or released. In a small unified system people still move between facilities, and nobody will call to tell you, so set up notifications early. If you cannot find your person or need to confirm status, the DOC public information office can help by phone.

The First Weeks: Intake and Where People Are Held

Delaware has four main adult facilities, and knowing them helps you understand where your person might land. James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna is the largest, holding all custody levels and pretrial detainees. Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington is another major men's facility that also holds pretrial detainees. Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown holds additional men. The Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution holds women. There are also community corrections centers used for work release and reentry as people get closer to release.

Because the facilities are multi-purpose, intake and classification happen within the DOC system, and your person is assessed and assigned based on their status and security level. During these early weeks contact is limited and unpredictable, and your person may move. Keep checking the locator and keep your VINELink notifications active so you know where they are.

It is worth being honest about Delaware's largest facility. James T. Vaughn was the site of a deadly 2017 uprising in which a correctional officer was killed, an event that led to years of scrutiny over staffing, conditions, and safety. That history is part of why an involved, attentive family matters. Stay in contact, learn your facility's procedures, and document any serious concern in writing.

Money: How to Put Funds on Their Account in Delaware

Your person needs money on their account for commissary, hygiene, and communication services. Delaware runs deposits and communications through ViaPath, the company formerly known as GTL, and its GettingOut platform. There are a few correct ways to add money, and some very specific wrong ways that will bounce your deposit.

The right ways: use a kiosk located in the gatehouse or main entrance of a facility, deposit online through ViaPath, or mail a money order to ViaPath using their deposit form. Read that last point carefully. You mail the money order to the vendor, not to the prison. Delaware specifically tells families do not mail money orders directly to Baylor, Howard R. Young, or James T. Vaughn, and those facilities do not accept money orders in person during visitation either. Personal checks are not accepted, and you should never send cash in the mail.

Be aware that if your person owes court obligations, a portion of deposits may be deducted toward those before the rest reaches commissary. And the usual warning everywhere: scammers target prison families constantly. Use only ViaPath and the official channels. Never send money through a stranger or anyone who contacts you claiming they can speed it up.

Staying Connected: Phone, Tablets, and Delaware's Scanned-Mail System

This is what holds a family together, so set up each channel and know the rules, because Delaware changed its mail process significantly.

Phone. Your person can make outgoing calls to approved numbers but cannot receive incoming calls, and staff will not pass messages. You set up a prepaid phone account with ViaPath so the calls can happen. As of recent years, federal caps have pushed per-call costs down. Get your number approved and the account funded early, because a number that is not set up is a call that cannot connect.

Tablets and video. Through GettingOut, your person can use a tablet to read messages and access services, and you can set up video visitation. Reading letters delivered to the tablet is generally free, but messaging, video calls, and entertainment like games, music, and movies carry fees funded through the account.

Mail, and this is a big one in Delaware. As of April 2024, Delaware uses a centralized mail scanning system across all its prison facilities. Your non-legal letters and photos are not delivered to the facility at all. They go to an out-of-state processing center, where they are opened, screened, and scanned into a searchable electronic document, and your person receives the scan. The originals are not returned. Delaware adopted this after a serious problem with drugs being soaked or sprayed onto mailed paper, which ordinary screening could not catch. What it means for you: send your non-legal mail to the central processing address the DOC publishes, not to the prison, and always include your person's full name and SBI number. Photos should be standard 4 by 6 prints, not Polaroid or instant, and nothing sexual. Legal mail is the exception and still goes directly to the facility from attorneys. Books and magazines must be new, soft cover, and shipped from an approved vendor.

How and When They Might Come Home: Delaware Abolished Parole

This is the section that surprises families, because Delaware works like the truth-in-sentencing states, not the parole states.

Delaware abolished parole. Under the Truth-in-Sentencing Act, parole was eliminated for offenses committed after June 30, 1990. So for nearly everyone sentenced under modern law, there is no parole board hearing where your person makes their case and comes home early. If your person's offense predates that change, they may still be parole-eligible before the Board of Parole, but that is a shrinking group.

What governs release instead is the sentence the judge imposed, reduced by good time credits your person can earn for good behavior and program participation. So encourage your person to stay disciplined and complete every program available, because good time is one of the few things that moves the release date in Delaware.

There is also a limited path called sentence modification, where under specific circumstances a sentence can be reviewed and adjusted on an individual basis. It is narrow and not a substitute for parole, but it is worth asking your person's attorney about if the circumstances fit.

The honest takeaway: do not plan around an early parole release, because for modern sentences it does not exist. Plan around the sentence minus earned good time, push your person to earn that credit, and pace yourself accordingly.

When Release Day Comes

Do not expect them to walk out with much. Whatever is left in their account leaves with them, and Delaware, like most states, has only modest help for people who leave with nothing. The lesson is simple: do not assume the state sends them home with a cushion. If you can, have a little money and a plan waiting, including how your person gets home and where they will sleep the first night. Many people step down through a community corrections or work release center before full release, which can ease the transition, so understand where your person is in that pipeline as their date approaches.

Delaware Resources That Actually Help

You are not the first Delaware family to walk this, and you should not do it alone. Despite being a small state, Delaware has reentry organizations, family support groups, and legal advocates who know this specific system and its quirks, from the scanned-mail process to good-time calculations.

We keep a current, Delaware-specific list of family support organizations, legal aid, and reentry programs on our Delaware reentry resources page. Start there. The right local organization can help you understand your person's good-time and release picture, navigate the mail and money systems, and help them land on their feet when they come home.

You Can Do This

Here is the last thing, from someone who understands a system like this from the inside. The families who make it through are not the ones with money or connections. They are the ones who learn the rules, stay involved, and pace themselves. Delaware is small and unified, which makes some things simpler, but its abolished parole and its scanned-mail system mean you have to know the specifics. You found this guide, which means you are already doing the most important thing: learning how it actually works so you can work it.

Find them on the DOC locator and register with VINELink. Set up the phone account and get your number approved. Put money on the books through ViaPath, by kiosk, online, or money order mailed to the vendor, never to the facility. Send mail to the central scanning address with the SBI number on it. Help your person earn every bit of good time. And take care of yourself across the long haul.

You are not alone in this. Delaware families do this every day, and so can you.

FAQ

**Does Delaware have separate county jails and state prisons?** No. Delaware runs a unified system under the Department of Correction. The same multi-purpose facilities hold both pretrial detainees and sentenced people. The difference between a jail sentence and a prison sentence is mainly the length, a year or less versus more than a year, not which agency holds your person.

**What is an SBI number?** It stands for State Bureau of Identification number, and it is your person's key identifier in the Delaware system. You will need it for the inmate search, money, and mail.

**How do I find someone in Delaware custody?** Use the Delaware DOC online offender locator or VINELink, searching by name or number. Register on VINELink for automatic alerts about transfers and release.

**How do I send money to someone in Delaware?** Through ViaPath (GTL), by kiosk at a facility gatehouse, online, or by mailing a money order to ViaPath using their form. Do not mail money orders to the facility, and do not send personal checks or cash. A portion may be deducted toward any court obligations.

**How does mail work in Delaware?** As of April 2024, all non-legal mail is sent to a central out-of-state processing center, scanned, and delivered to your person electronically. Originals are not returned. Send non-legal mail to the published processing address with the SBI number, use 4 by 6 photos, and know that legal mail still goes directly to the facility.

**Does Delaware have parole?** Not for offenses committed after June 30, 1990. Delaware abolished parole under its Truth-in-Sentencing Act. Release is governed by the sentence minus earned good time credits. People sentenced before the change may still be parole-eligible, and a narrow sentence modification path exists in limited circumstances.

**Can I call my loved one?** No. Your person calls out to approved numbers through ViaPath, and you cannot call in. Set up a prepaid account and get your number approved early.

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