SANTA CRUZ >> The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has resumed in-person visits to the county’s minimum-to-medium-security Blaine Street Women’s Facility, which had been closed to visitors since the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Staffing shortages exacerbated the extended limited access to Blaine Street inmates, according to a release from the sheriff’s office. The two-story dorm-style facility itself was shuttered for a year and a half, through March 2023. The jail’s average daily population from September 2023 through August was 11 people in a facility outfitted with 32 beds, according to sheriff’s office statistics.

“This will allow women to connect with their loved ones face-to-face and maintain vital connections that benefit women and families and aid in their reintegration into the community after release,” the sheriff’s office stated in a media release.

Sheriff Jim Hart noted the particular significance of reuniting inmates with their children. The agency collaborates with community groups to facilitate services both inside Blaine Street and as inmates transition back into the community.