South Texas Family Residential Center (ICE) - CoreCivic

South Texas Family Residential Center (ICE) - CoreCivic basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 830-378-6500

CoreCivic manages the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX, on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Employing several hundred individuals, this center's mission is to provide an open, safe environment with residential housing as well as educational opportunities for women and children who are awaiting their due process before immigration courts. Please visit www.SouthTexasFamilyCenter.com to learn more about this center's mission and services. For information on deportation officer assignments, payment of bonds, or anything else to do with the residents' cases, please contact ICE at (830) 378-6600.

Serving the Families of Inmates
Incarceration affects many lives.
When a loved one goes to jail or prison, we know there are family members who care deeply and want to remain informed. Sometimes incarceration can mean separation from spouses or children. We know maintaining bonds with healthy relationships are so important. Even friends and church or community members often want to stay connected to inmates in our care.
We welcome those relationships and connections. Because when an inmate remains connected to supportive individuals, they are better equipped and motivated to return to society and make positive changes.
At CoreCivic, our mission is to benefit and protect all we serve. We seek to provide the highest-quality correctional services. Our commitment is to operate a safe and secure environment, to offer proven reentry programs that influence change, superior medical services, fair and ethical inmate treatment and oversight, and open and transparent access to our facilities.
While we encourage families to play an active role in an inmate’s life during incarceration, it is also our responsibility to ensure the safety of the inmates in our care, our staff, the community and all facility visitors. We are tirelessly committed to security at each of our facilities, nationwide.
Our security measures may seem overwhelming or intimidating, especially to someone entering a correctional facility for the very first time. So, this section of our website is here to help you become as comfortable and informed as possible.

Inmate Orientation
Within the first two weeks of arrival at a CoreCivic correctional facility, every inmate will attend the facility’s orientation program and receive a copy of the facility’s inmate handbook.
The inmate handbook includes all the information an inmate needs to start a productive life inside the facility and remain connected with family or lawyers.
A few handbook topics include:
• Requesting a medical appointment/available medical services
• Religious services
• Educational programs
• Recreation
• Commissary and creating an account
• Hygiene and grooming expectations
• Facility schedule
• Visitation information and schedule
Orientation and the inmate handbook ensure that inmates in our care can immediately address any concerns or questions and begin to participate in the programs and services offered at our facility.
Operations Concern Center
At all times, we remain committed to the fair and ethical treatment of those individuals entrusted to our care.
CoreCivic has in place clear and accessible processes for inmates and family members to make grievances known that include a dedicated telephone and email hotline. We investigate all allegations fully and cooperate and collaborate with other agencies and law enforcement, as needed.
Protecting Inmate and Detainee Rights
At CoreCivic, we take very seriously our responsibility to respect and uphold the rights and welfare of inmates and detainees in our care. Our employees learn about the company’s longstanding inmate and detainee rights policies in their initial, pre-service training and are refreshed on those commitments every year through in-service training. The information is clearly stated in CoreCivic’s employee handbook, and the policies are also shared with every inmate and detainee who enters one of our facilities. Equally as important, we fully comply with any and all inmate and detainee rights policies our government partners require.
Our dedicated employees – including chaplains, nurses, teachers and officers – are committed to ensuring that every individual in our CoreCivic facilities has:
Safety and Security
• Protection from personal abuse and injury, verbal abuse, corporal punishment, property damage and harassment. For example, CoreCivic has a robust sexual abuse prevention program in place
• Freedom from unreasonable searches.
• Protection from an inmate or detainee having power or authority over another.
• Separate housing for males and females when both sexes are housed in the same facility.

Inmate Wellness
Corrections provides inmates and detainees with the opportunity to pause and assess their lifestyles. For many, incarceration marks the first time in their adult lives when they will have seen a medical professional or received a regular and balanced diet. At CoreCivic, we are proud to offer life-changing services that will enable men and women to find healthy paths toward wellness. We do this through a wide array of options, including:

Nutrition Services
Mealtime is very important in our everyday lives. Food is known as such an important aspect of correctional operations that it is often directly tied to inmate behavior and morale. Not only do breakfast, lunch and dinner help provide daily structure and routines, they also have an impact on overall health and wellness.
Nutrition service is a vital aspect of CoreCivic operations. Guided by our individual government partners, CoreCivic takes great care to offers meals that support specialized diets and cultural preferences, while conforming to rigorous nutritional guidelines. Our team of culinary experts relies on a library of nearly 700 recipes to meet the dietary needs of those in our care. All meals provided at CoreCivic facilities are reviewed and approved by registered dietitians. On a daily basis, we provide meals that support religious diets and more than a dozen therapeutic diets. In fact, seven percent of those is our care receive specialized therapeutic diets that serve to support wellness for a wide array of medical conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, pregnancy, and autoimmune diseases.
For many, incarceration serves as a much-needed opportunity to receive consistent access to quality nutrition services. When people have access to sufficient food, they are able to make better choices, increase learning abilities, and combat various health issues. Through something as fundamental as food, we are able to help guide inmates down a path toward health and wellness, both while in our care and after their release.

Health Care
All too often, for many offenders, the first time they receive comprehensive health care is upon becoming incarcerated.
Upon intake at a CoreCivic facility, inmates are screened so that our medical professionals may manage existing concerns and address any new diagnoses. A typical CoreCivic facility has a medical unit where physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and medical assistants can provide routine check-ups, manage sick calls and address non-emergency needs. Our correctional health care facilities typically include a dental clinic, too.
For offenders who experience mental health problems, from emotional conflict to mental illness, we have a team of qualified mental health professionals to assist them with their needs. Offenders are screened upon arrival at each facility, and if needed, they're referred to a psychologist, psychiatrist or mental health specialist for follow-up evaluation and intervention. We provide treatment in the form of medication, when needed, as well as group and individual counseling. All CoreCivic staff receive training in the identification of mental health crises, and they refer offenders to the professional staff whenever they suspect someone is experiencing a problem. We constantly monitor the offender population for signs of declining mental health and suicide risk, working actively to assist a troubled offender in his or her time of need.
CoreCivic adheres to standardized regulations and/or are certified by the American Correctional Association, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and/or the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. These organizations work to improve the quality of health care provided in jails and prisons by developing and maintaining nationally recognized standards for correctional health care.
Our correctional health care teams are supported by a regional network of medical professionals across the country and are led by a talented team at the company's headquarters. Additionally, CoreCivic facilities leverage medical technology to securely automate medical records, scheduling, medication administration, pill call and pharmacy services.

Wellness Activities
Recreational opportunities help provide relief and respite to those in our care. At CoreCivic facilities, recreational outlets are designed to help inmates stay active, get fit and interact with fellow offenders in positive, collaborative ways. Sports like basketball, activities like board games and hobbies like creative writing or knitting help inmates tap into their creativity while learning valuable lessons in teamwork, communication and mutual respect.
Within CoreCivic correctional facilities, recreational activities are managed and overseen by CoreCivic professionals, not limited to but including chaplains, unit managers, recreational supervisors and others. Our devoted and trained volunteers also contribute valuable recreational programs like crafts, reading groups and other enjoyable pastimes to offenders in our correctional centers.

Staying in Touch
Staying in touch with an inmate can be challenging due to time limitations, especially when your loved one is located a considerable distance away.
Sometimes frequent visitation simply isn’t possible. Even so, staying in touch can make all the difference.
We believe that maintaining connections with friends and family makes a positive impact on the inmates in our care – behaviorally, emotionally and academically – and increases their success rate upon release. Success stories make our day.
• We invite you to visit.
• We invite you to write and call.
• We invite you to be involved and connected.
• Telephone Calls and Phone Cards
• Hearing the sounds of a familiar voice can lift an inmate’s spirits. Typically, our correctional facilities allow inmates to make collect calls.
• Each facility has a bank of phones that are provided for inmate calls. Inmates may use these phones to make collect calls or use their pre-paid calling card.
• Detailed information on how your loved one can apply money to their calling card is provided in the inmate handbook and will vary by facility.
Mail
Written mail through the U.S. Postal Service is perhaps one of the easiest ways for friends and family to stay in touch with their loved one. Every facility provides mail service for the inmate population.
Guidelines for addressing mail correctly can be found on the webpage for each specific facility.
While standard letters and cards are generally acceptable at every facility, all other allowable mail will vary from facility to facility.
The majority of our facilities will not allow packages (anything larger than a standard letter or card) from friends and family into the facility. Unapproved mail may result in an expense to the inmate if the item has to be shipped back, destroyed or donated.
Some facilities will allow friends and family members to purchase items from an approved vendor (such as Amazon). The package can be mailed directly from the approved vendor to the facility.
Email access is not available at this time.Inmate Accounts and Commissary
Inmates may need or receive money for various facility life activities, such as a calling card, medical co-pays, items from commissary, or even a paying job. Inmate money is managed through inmate accounts.
Generally, all our facilities have a commissary, which is an in-facility storehouse where food items, hygiene items and writing materials can be purchased. This is in addition to the meals and standard-issue clothing and hygiene products already supplied by and paid for by the facility. Inmates use the money in their inmate account to purchase these items.
Typically, friends and family may contribute money to an inmate’s account. Many of the facility profiles have instructions for contributing to an inmate account.

Inmate Mailing Procedures
The United States Postal Services (USPS) prohibits the mailing of any of the following:
• Potentially hazardous materials that are not properly marked and packaged;
• Perishable items that are not properly marked and packaged;
• Correspondence containing any vile, or obscene material, and matter inciting violence or terrorism;
• Solicitations that mimic billing statements, unless accompanied by a prominent disclaimer;
• Solicitations stating approval by the USPS or Postmaster General, or conformance to any postal law or regulation; and
• Correspondence that bears deliberate imitations of postal markings and/or postal trademarks (e.g. “Priority Mail”, etc.). Correspondents are personally responsible for the content of each item of correspondence they send through the USPS. Any violation of laws governing correspondence will be referred to postal authorities and to appropriate criminal authorities. The sender may be subject to civil or criminal penalties and/or federal prosecution for violation of postal laws.

Prohibited Correspondence:
Correspondence containing malicious, false, inflammatory, or other types of statements or information, the purpose of which is reasonably intended to harm, or intimidate an employee, visitor, or guest may be prohibited. Correspondence that could reasonably jeopardize legitimate penalogical interests includes, but is not limited to:

• Plans to escape;
• Plans for criminal activities;
• Plans to introduce contraband into or out of the facility;
• Plans for activities in violation of facility rules;
• Threats to the safety and security of facility order, discipline or rehabilitation;
• Information which, if communicated, would create a clear and present danger of violence and physical harm to a human being (including racially inflammatory material);
• Letters or materials written in code or a foreign language when the inmate/resident understands English (unless the Warden/Administrator or designee determined that the recipient does not read and write fluently in English);
• Correspondence which attempts to forward unauthorized correspondence to a third party;
• Obscene material;
• Correspondence which encourages deviate sexual behavior which is criminal, in violation of facility rules, detrimental to the rehabilitation of inmates/residents, or determined by the Warden/Administrator or designee to be detrimental to the safety and security of the facility (these materials include, but are not limited to, pictures, drawings, or photographs which display or suggest vaginal, rectal, or oral penetration by a person or object, ejaculation, bestiality, sadistic or masochistic behaviors, child pornography, or the suggestion of child pornography);
• Correspondence which may enable one (1) or more inmates/residents to ascertain the time(s), date(s), and/or location(s) of upcoming off-site appointments or transports;
• Personal identifying information (e.g. birth certificate, social security number, driver’s license number, etc.) of individuals other than the inmate/resident’s and his/her immediate family; and
• Other general correspondence for which rejection is reasonably related to a legitimate penalogical interest. Prohibited Items: Items normally contained in general correspondence that are considered to be prohibited include, but are not limited to:
• Maps of the city where the facility is located or surrounding communities;
• Polaroid photographs;
• Photo negatives/slides;
• Photo albums;
• Photos of current or former employees;
• Framed photos;
• Greeting cards larger than 8 X 10;
• Greeting cards containing electronic or other non-paper parts;
• Greeting cards constructed in such a way to permit concealment of contraband;
• Stick on labels or stamps that appear to contain contraband;
• Items that are glued, taped, stapled, or otherwise affixed to a page; and
• Any items prohibited by law, regulations, or contract.

If you need information about a resident that is housed at this center, you may call (830) 378-6500 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. When you call, please have the individual’s biographical information ready, including first, last and hyphenated names, any aliases he or she may use, date of birth and country of birth.

Residents cannot receive incoming calls. If you need to get in touch with a resident to leave an urgent message, you must call (830) 378-6500 and leave the resident’s full name, alien registration number and your name and telephone number where you can be reached. The resident will be given your message.