Whatever the reasons, the cancellation of visiting days at the Halawa Correctional Facility — or any Hawai'i prison — is cause for concern.

Both prison officials and independent criminologists agree that regular visits to inmates by loved ones should be encouraged. They are right.

It's widely understood that regular contact with family can build a strong social and financial safety net that will improve an inmate's chances of successfully assimilating once released.

Surely it's in the community's best interest to find ways to keep parolees on the right path. It keeps our streets safer, and saves taxpayers the cost of returning the parolee to prison.

So it's discouraging to learn that between January and mid-July, 13 of about 64 allowable visitation days were canceled. The reasons given: staffing shortages among officers who handle visitations, combined with the necessity to ensure that primary security requirements were covered.

This makes sense, and would be easier to accept if it weren't such old news. Staffing problems — vacancies, overtime and sick leave — have plagued Hawai'i's correctional system for years.

Since 1992, the Department of Public Safety has argued that the formula now used to determine staffing levels is set too low to fully cover department operations.

But the department struggles to fill vacancies to meet even the current levels. In June 2005, there were about 130 officer vacancies statewide, an increase of nearly 100 from the previous year. The total number of vacancies today? About 123. At Halawa, 12 positions are open.

The Department of Public Safety has 24 recruits in the wings, which is a good start. But it should manage its staffing gains to ensure that regular visiting days at Ha-lawa, the state's largest prison, are part of basic operations.

That means not only aggressive recruiting, but keeping a closer eye on work schedules and sick leave.

A high rate of sick leave and evidence of abuses were targets of criticism in a 2006 financial audit of the department. Two of this year's visitation cancellations — New Year's Day and Super Bowl Sunday — were attributed to sick leave. Just a coincidence? It's certainly possible.

On average, only 8 to 10 percent of inmates in Hawai'i receive regular visits, according to the department. That number should be increased, and the corrections system ready and able to handle it.