Return to Meeting Archives
Logo Created By VSPW Graphic Arts Program
"Thank You Ladies"
VSPW INMATE FAMILY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Friday, February 4, 2005
Logo Created By VSPW Graphic Arts Program
"Thank You Ladies"
VSPW INMATE FAMILY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Friday, February 4, 2005
MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT
Marvin Coolbaugh, Chair
Nancy Rubinstein, Secretary
Elizabeth Muniz
Tammy R
Regina Thompson
Helen Valdez
Mark Hanna
Alexandria Borges
MEMBERS/ALTERNATES ABSENT
Dr. John Videen (excused)
Louisa Camorlinga
Tim Daughenbaugh
VISITORS
Rosalga Camorlinga
VSPW STAFF PRESENT
Gloria A. Henry, Warden
J. Cavazos, Administrative Assistant
K. Eichenberger, Associate Warden, Housing Division
Lt. L.S. Donaldson, Operations
J. Tucker, SRN
C. Pierini, Correctional Health Services Administrator
K. Rodriguez, Employee Relations Office Technician
Mr. Z. Patrick, Supervisor, Correctional Education Programs
Mr. O. Sumner, HobbyCraft Manager
R. Cannon, M.D., Chief Medical Officer (Acting)
D.H. Martin, Ph.D., Health Care Manager (Acting)
The meeting was called to order at 1:02 PM by Marvin Coolbaugh. Introductions were made around the room.
Dr. Martin, Acting HCM, requested that the questions about Medical be discussed first, so that staff could return to their positions. Therefore, the question about Canteen Carts was moved to the second agenda item position.
Items Discussed:
I. MEDICAL
A. Delays in Prescriptions: Dr. Martin had data that indicates there have been only 11 informal appeals (an informal appeal being a first-level 602 complaint) from inmates regarding medical prescription disruptions over the last five months. Therefore, there have been no apparent delays in prescriptions over the last five months.
B. Out-to-Medical Followups not being scheduled – May require CoPay paperwork: There are inmates who have been told by an outside physician to have follow-ups. There are several problems that might cause this to happen. The three main reasons given are, 1) the paperwork doesn’t come back in with the inmate, and it gets overlooked, 2) the Yard Physician is the primary doctor for the inmate, and the Yard Physician has the authority to change the recommendation, and 3) the prison physician training may need supplementing.
The prison administration and the prison doctors have the ultimate responsibility for inmate care, and are responsible for primary care. When the prison doctor determines that a follow-up is not needed, that doctor has the right to make that decision.
The inmate and the inmate’s family do not have a wide range of choices in these matters. The prison administration stresses that inmates should work within the established system. This means filling out Co Pays when follow-up hasn’t happened. Co Pays that are formally worded will work the best if the inmate wants to be seen by Triage. For instance, when an inmate has been told by an outside physician that she should be followed up, she should word her Co Pay like this, “I was seen by Dr. X on February 4, 2005, and was told that I should have a follow-up appointment by February 18 to have my skin boils looked at, and to get new medication.”
Return to Top
C. Not Receiving Surgery or Treatments Recommended by Outside Doctors: Outside doctors may be indicating surgery, but then the inmate isn’t being referred to a surgeon. If an inmate doesn’t feel her questions are being answered satisfactorily, she should file a 602. Then the problem will be reviewed, and perhaps discussed at a Medical Administration Review meeting (MAR). The opinion of the staff may be different from the opinion of the outside doctor, and that may be the decision that would mean the inmate will not be seen by a surgeon. There is a surgeon on staff at VSPW.
D. 602s, Co-Pays, and Appeals for Medical Problems: All 11 of the 602s about medications that have been received in the last five months were answered by the Health Services Department according to State guidelines. Peggy Mitchell is the Inmate Medical Appeals Analyst that handles appeals.
Dr. Martin stated that the Health Care Services Division handles complaints without waiting for an actual appeal to come in. Medical questions may be handled as high up as the Medication Management Committee. Without a written Co-Pay request or a 602, there is no record of any problem. This tells staff that complaints and problems are being handled okay at lower levels, without an inmate needing to file 602s to get answers or help.
Without a written Co Pay request or a 602, there is no record of any problem. Since there have only been eleven 602s in the last 5 months, it appears that there are no problems with medical prescriptions. The Acting CMO did not give us any indication of other 602s filed by inmates regarding health issues.
When a 602 doesn’t come back in the correct amount of time, the inmate should refile. If the 602 comes back denied, the inmate should appeal. If the 602 comes back approved, but the action doesn’t happen in a reasonable amount of time, the inmate should refile the 602.
An inmate might not get back a 602 for several reasons: Perhaps the inmate moved to a different cell. The 602 may not have actually been filed – maybe the person she gave her 602 failed to file it for her. An inmate should always refile a 602 if she hasn’t heard back in the specific time allotted for hearing back on 602s.
The Administrative Staff indicate that they believe most 602s are solved to the satisfaction of the inmates. They think that as much as 90% of all 602s are solved to the approval of inmates. This is based on the fact that hardly any medical 602s ever get to the second level of appeal.
Most Co-Pays and 602s are handled on the following schedule: 1st level = 15 days, 2nd level = 30 days, 3rd level = 20 days.
E. Medications Being Switched: Some psych medications can’t be used at VSPW. They are not included in the state formulary.
Medicines that are not in the state formulary will not be prescribed. If an inmate appeals this decision, it must eventually be reviewed and approved by Sacramento. This process is laborious, costly, and slow, and may not be satisfied.
F. Psych Patients: There are about 900 Psych patients at VSPW, out of an inmate population of 3,700. “Triple C” Psych patients account for about 850 inmates. The rest are in the Administrative Segregation and at the Reception Center. A large portion of the Psych patients are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but this condition is generally not handled with medications. Many of the Psych medications that inmates may have been using outside are not available on the state formulary.
Dr. Gaab no longer works at VSPW. All his patients are scheduled for re-evaluation. If they haven’t been seen, they should file a Co Pay.
G. Medical Tracking at VSPW: Right now, the Medical staff is using a computer program titled SATSLITE, which stands, partly, for Scheduling and Tracking System. The program is used to keep track of inmate scheduling for medical appointments. The staff is getting new updates to this program continuously. They are also using a Quality Management program, to help keep track of a lot of other medical things. The problem is, these programs aren’t networked yet, so there is no way to get the information from yard to yard, unless someone gets the information from one computer and takes it physically to another. This is a job that’s being handled daily by Medical Office staff.
The CDC goals are to have the entire medical system computerized and networked by 2010, with the Mental Health portion of it being operational by 2006.
H. Line RN Referrals to Physicians are Behind: Right now, appointments to see physicians are furthest behind on C Facility. The days behind are:
Facility A - 2 days behind
Facility B - 10 days behind
Facility C - 20 days behind
Facility D - 9 days behind
If an inmate puts in a Co Pay and isn’t seen within a reasonable amount of time (15 days?), she should put in another Co Pay. If she still isn’t seen, she should file a 602.
I. Meals in Evenings Being Missed by Med Line Patients: B yard recently had an evening where there was a long pill line. There was a medical emergency that night, requiring the Sergeant’s attention. The med lines had to be stopped. In the meantime, the dinner line closed. The Sergeant was able to get box lunches for the patients. This was a one-time problem, and they are monitoring the 3rd Watch, and have more Sergeants available now.
J. Medical Authorization Forms – How a Family Member Can Discuss Medical Issues with VSPW Health Staff: Any inmate can ask to fill out a Medical Authorization Form. This will allow her outside physician or family member to discuss medical issues with the VSPW Health Department. The inmate must be the one to ask for this Form.
If a family member contacts the Health Department, but their inmate loved one has not yet signed a Medical Authorization Form, the family member should ask the Health Department to ask the inmate if she would like to get someone from her family authorized. The family should give the VSPW Health Department the Inmate’s name and prisoner number. VSPW will ducat the inmate to come in and sign the Authorization Form. After that, the Health Department may discuss whatever the inmate has authorized.
Otherwise, the Health Department may only discuss general items with the family member. General information may be obtained from the Health Care Manager’s Office. When a family member calls VSPW, he or she may ask for the Health Care Manager’s Office, and someone there will help.
II. CANTEEN CART UPDATE
There is one new cart per Yard. One cart mainly handles one person at a time. When there are 10 to 15 inmates shopping at one time, the cart situation is inadequate. More carts are needed.
Warden Henry explained that these is just no money in the budget for more carts right now.
There was a question about why inmates can’t cross certain lines to get a cart. Captain Eichenberger explained that each Yard has their own assigned cart. Each cart is marked for the facility it belongs to. It is kept in a special place. The lines separate facilities. Each cart should be in its’ own facility, and that is the one the inmate must use. That is why they can’t cross the line to get a different cart.
The Staff was concerned that the problem of not having enough carts is NOT something that has been brought up internally. The Staff hasn’t heard any complaints from WAC, and there hasn’t been any 602 on this. They told us that if there are any further complaints about lack of carts, it MUST be through WAC or through the 602 process. The Inmate Family Council encourages any inmate who has a problem using a cart to carry her canteen purchases should make a formal 602 complaint. Otherwise, the Staff will assume there is no problem, and no one has a complaint. The inmates may also tell WAC, talk to a Captain, or send a note to Captain Eichenberger. The Inmate Family Council encourages inmates to make sure the complaint is written down, so that there is a record of it.
III. Hobby Craft
A. Hobby Craft Christmas Donation Project: There were 97 hats and 97 scarves delivered to the Veteran’s Hospital in Fresno for Christmas. The PIO at the VA Hospital, Mr. Phillips, took photos. VSPW hasn’t received any copies of these photos, and someone will probably need to ask Mr. Phillips for copies.
An Administrative Assistant from VSPW needs to report this project to CDC Headquarters, so Javier Cavazos said he would follow up with Mr. Phillips.
ACTION ITEM: JAVIER CAVAZOS WILL FOLLOW UP WITH VA HOSPITAL PIO MR. PHILLIPS TO GET PHOTOS OF THE CHRISTMAS HOBBY CRAFT DONATIONS PROGRAM.
B. Does Hobby Craft Receive Fundraising Money? The Hobby Craft program does not receive fundraising money through Hobby Craft programs. Also, the Inmate Welfare Fund only allows a small allocation to Hobby Craft, just for funding indigent loans. These have to be requested from the IWF by Hobby Craft, which they do on a monthly basis. When the inmates sell consignment Hobby Craft items, 10% of that sale is allocated to the Inmate Welfare Fund, and 90% is returned to the inmate.
C. Stored Kiln Items: Items stored during the Hobby Craft down time had to either be claimed when the program closed or when it reopened recently. Only unmarked materials were disposed of. If they could be identified, the staff tried to find the inmate. Some had been released, some had been moved, etc. When inmates couldn’t be found, the items were disposed of. There was a lot of loose stuff that wasn’t labeled, and a lot of that has been removed.
Hobby Craft is still having some startup problems, but there has only been one 602 filed. There may be another one as of the day of the IFC meeting.
D. Mailing Out and Tracking Mailed Hobby Craft Materials: There is a procedure for keeping track of items mailed out from Hobby Craft. The information is kept on file, in a Hobby Craft file that each inmate has. Any inmate has the right to look at her file. She should submit a “Inmate Interview Request” form.
IV. LAUNDRY QUESTIONS AND OPEN LINE CLOTHING EXCHANGE
State issued clothing may not be washed in the personal washing machines during regular washing periods. State issued things that can’t be washed in the personal machines include the colored CDC jumpsuits, state issued pants and shirts (blue jeans and baseball shirts), sheets, and pillowcases. All state issue items need to go into the general laundry.
Each Facility has its’ own general laundry. A laundry cart comes around in the mornings. Pants, shirts, pillowcases and sheets are put in pillowcases, and are labeled with the name of the inmate, and a list of the items to be exchanged. The laundry cart goes to the laundry room, and when the cart comes back, clean items are redistributed to inmates. If they are missing things in the return, they need to talk to the Housing Officer.
There is a State Clothing Exchange once a week. This allows inmates who need new clothing (because the old ones are torn, worn out, or seriously stained) to get exchanges. Real dirty jobs have been given extra exchanges, and these have already been negotiated. There are also some workers who have received special clearance to use the personal washers for some state issued clothing. However, this does not include kitchen workers. Kitchen workers currently use the baseball shirts and jeans, and they are issued 4 pairs of pants and 3 shirts.
There are some inmates that have complained to their families that exchanges are too big or too small. They have also told family members that the Open Line to exchange old State Issue for new State Issue only allows 15 people a week to get new clothing, and that this is not enough to handle the amount of prisoners that need to exchange for new clothing.
Staff says that the slots are quite adequate to handle the amount of inmates that should need new issue. They state that there have been no 602 complaints from the yards in reference to shortages or problems with exchanges. There have also been no complaints to the WAC. Without 602s or complaints through WAC, it is assumed that this is NOT a problem.
The IFC appreciates the Staff explaining the procedures with us, so families can understand better how the laundry system works.
V. VENDORS
The Inmate Family Council would appreciate receiving a list of currently approved vendors. We have inquiries about vendors from families on a regular basis, and are unsure who is available and approved by VSPW. Even though the inmates have the ability to send out vendor forms, this doesn’t work for Special Purchases, which aren’t usually handled by forms. Also, several families are now using the internet to order, and the forms don’t apply. As a matter of fact, the inmates can simply send a list of what they want on regular stationery, so sometimes the forms and the form information doesn’t reach the families. We would like to post this information on the VSPW website.
The IFC also reports that D&D has improved their on-line ordering.
ACTION ITEM: LT. DONALDSON WILL GET THE UPDATED VENDOR LIST TO THE IFC.
VI. PERSONAL PROPERTY
The initial implementation of the 6 cubic foot rule has occurred. Inmate cells have been searched, and extra materials have been removed for shipment home or for donation. The 6 cubic foot search can be done whenever it is deemed necessary. There will be no exemptions for women in prison. There is a backlog in the mail out of excess materials. What the status of that backlog is cannot be determined at this meeting, as the boxes would have been shipped out directly through the mailroom and not through R&R. The staff member that could answer mailroom questions is not at this meeting. The 6 cubic foot rule allows for no personal clothing except for underwear, shoes and sweats. Books are included in the 6 cubic foot rule.
VII. COLLEGE STUDY COURSES
The Youthful Offender Program currently offers some college courses. There is also another college correspondence program that enrolls prisoners, out of Ohio. There are also some inmates that have enrolled no their own in various other correspondence courses.
SCEP Zack Patrick is currently looking into on-campus college courses being presented by outside volunteers from California colleges. So far, Merced and Madera have shown no interest. He will also be contacting Ironwood, CIW, Chuckawalla and San Quentin to inquire about their outside college programs, as these prisons have currently active programs.
VIII. TOILET PAPER
Toilet paper inventory in the warehouse is fine, but the inmates are having trouble getting toilet paper on request in the individual units, especially during the evenings. Sometimes toilet paper requests have ended up having their rooms searched, apparently in retaliation.
It was reported that there were mid-January job changes for staff. It was recognized that there is a need for BCD training for issuance of hygiene products, and for training on how CO’s should be handling shortages. Staff needs to be retrained. Captain McCullough has met with the WAC, but hasn’t had this discussed yet at WAC.
When there is a particular staff member that is causing problems with hygienic product distribution, the inmates should ask the WAC to bring this up. Each yard has WAC representatives that meet with the facility Captain regularly. If there is a particular staff member that is retaliating or taking other inappropriate actions, this should be brought up through WAC.
IX. SENDING IN BOOKS
UPS cannot deliver mail to a post office box. When people order books from a Publisher or Distributor, they need to be able to give a street address for delivery, if the Publisher is using UPS. The street address for VSPW is 21633 Avenue 24, Chowchilla, CA 93610.
ACTION ITEM: MARVIN COOLBAUGH WILL PUT THIS STREET ADDRESS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF OUR WEBSITE.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:38 PM.
Next Meeting: Friday, April 1, 2005, 1:00 PM
VSPW Warden’s Conference Room
Minutes prepared by Nancy Rubinstein
Agenda Items for next meeting due by March 19, 2005.
Marvin Coolbaugh, Chair
Nancy Rubinstein, Secretary
Elizabeth Muniz
Tammy R
Regina Thompson
Helen Valdez
Mark Hanna
Alexandria Borges
MEMBERS/ALTERNATES ABSENT
Dr. John Videen (excused)
Louisa Camorlinga
Tim Daughenbaugh
VISITORS
Rosalga Camorlinga
VSPW STAFF PRESENT
Gloria A. Henry, Warden
J. Cavazos, Administrative Assistant
K. Eichenberger, Associate Warden, Housing Division
Lt. L.S. Donaldson, Operations
J. Tucker, SRN
C. Pierini, Correctional Health Services Administrator
K. Rodriguez, Employee Relations Office Technician
Mr. Z. Patrick, Supervisor, Correctional Education Programs
Mr. O. Sumner, HobbyCraft Manager
R. Cannon, M.D., Chief Medical Officer (Acting)
D.H. Martin, Ph.D., Health Care Manager (Acting)
The meeting was called to order at 1:02 PM by Marvin Coolbaugh. Introductions were made around the room.
Dr. Martin, Acting HCM, requested that the questions about Medical be discussed first, so that staff could return to their positions. Therefore, the question about Canteen Carts was moved to the second agenda item position.
Items Discussed:
I. MEDICAL
A. Delays in Prescriptions: Dr. Martin had data that indicates there have been only 11 informal appeals (an informal appeal being a first-level 602 complaint) from inmates regarding medical prescription disruptions over the last five months. Therefore, there have been no apparent delays in prescriptions over the last five months.
B. Out-to-Medical Followups not being scheduled – May require CoPay paperwork: There are inmates who have been told by an outside physician to have follow-ups. There are several problems that might cause this to happen. The three main reasons given are, 1) the paperwork doesn’t come back in with the inmate, and it gets overlooked, 2) the Yard Physician is the primary doctor for the inmate, and the Yard Physician has the authority to change the recommendation, and 3) the prison physician training may need supplementing.
The prison administration and the prison doctors have the ultimate responsibility for inmate care, and are responsible for primary care. When the prison doctor determines that a follow-up is not needed, that doctor has the right to make that decision.
The inmate and the inmate’s family do not have a wide range of choices in these matters. The prison administration stresses that inmates should work within the established system. This means filling out Co Pays when follow-up hasn’t happened. Co Pays that are formally worded will work the best if the inmate wants to be seen by Triage. For instance, when an inmate has been told by an outside physician that she should be followed up, she should word her Co Pay like this, “I was seen by Dr. X on February 4, 2005, and was told that I should have a follow-up appointment by February 18 to have my skin boils looked at, and to get new medication.”
Return to Top
C. Not Receiving Surgery or Treatments Recommended by Outside Doctors: Outside doctors may be indicating surgery, but then the inmate isn’t being referred to a surgeon. If an inmate doesn’t feel her questions are being answered satisfactorily, she should file a 602. Then the problem will be reviewed, and perhaps discussed at a Medical Administration Review meeting (MAR). The opinion of the staff may be different from the opinion of the outside doctor, and that may be the decision that would mean the inmate will not be seen by a surgeon. There is a surgeon on staff at VSPW.
D. 602s, Co-Pays, and Appeals for Medical Problems: All 11 of the 602s about medications that have been received in the last five months were answered by the Health Services Department according to State guidelines. Peggy Mitchell is the Inmate Medical Appeals Analyst that handles appeals.
Dr. Martin stated that the Health Care Services Division handles complaints without waiting for an actual appeal to come in. Medical questions may be handled as high up as the Medication Management Committee. Without a written Co-Pay request or a 602, there is no record of any problem. This tells staff that complaints and problems are being handled okay at lower levels, without an inmate needing to file 602s to get answers or help.
Without a written Co Pay request or a 602, there is no record of any problem. Since there have only been eleven 602s in the last 5 months, it appears that there are no problems with medical prescriptions. The Acting CMO did not give us any indication of other 602s filed by inmates regarding health issues.
When a 602 doesn’t come back in the correct amount of time, the inmate should refile. If the 602 comes back denied, the inmate should appeal. If the 602 comes back approved, but the action doesn’t happen in a reasonable amount of time, the inmate should refile the 602.
An inmate might not get back a 602 for several reasons: Perhaps the inmate moved to a different cell. The 602 may not have actually been filed – maybe the person she gave her 602 failed to file it for her. An inmate should always refile a 602 if she hasn’t heard back in the specific time allotted for hearing back on 602s.
The Administrative Staff indicate that they believe most 602s are solved to the satisfaction of the inmates. They think that as much as 90% of all 602s are solved to the approval of inmates. This is based on the fact that hardly any medical 602s ever get to the second level of appeal.
Most Co-Pays and 602s are handled on the following schedule: 1st level = 15 days, 2nd level = 30 days, 3rd level = 20 days.
E. Medications Being Switched: Some psych medications can’t be used at VSPW. They are not included in the state formulary.
Medicines that are not in the state formulary will not be prescribed. If an inmate appeals this decision, it must eventually be reviewed and approved by Sacramento. This process is laborious, costly, and slow, and may not be satisfied.
F. Psych Patients: There are about 900 Psych patients at VSPW, out of an inmate population of 3,700. “Triple C” Psych patients account for about 850 inmates. The rest are in the Administrative Segregation and at the Reception Center. A large portion of the Psych patients are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but this condition is generally not handled with medications. Many of the Psych medications that inmates may have been using outside are not available on the state formulary.
Dr. Gaab no longer works at VSPW. All his patients are scheduled for re-evaluation. If they haven’t been seen, they should file a Co Pay.
G. Medical Tracking at VSPW: Right now, the Medical staff is using a computer program titled SATSLITE, which stands, partly, for Scheduling and Tracking System. The program is used to keep track of inmate scheduling for medical appointments. The staff is getting new updates to this program continuously. They are also using a Quality Management program, to help keep track of a lot of other medical things. The problem is, these programs aren’t networked yet, so there is no way to get the information from yard to yard, unless someone gets the information from one computer and takes it physically to another. This is a job that’s being handled daily by Medical Office staff.
The CDC goals are to have the entire medical system computerized and networked by 2010, with the Mental Health portion of it being operational by 2006.
H. Line RN Referrals to Physicians are Behind: Right now, appointments to see physicians are furthest behind on C Facility. The days behind are:
Facility A - 2 days behind
Facility B - 10 days behind
Facility C - 20 days behind
Facility D - 9 days behind
If an inmate puts in a Co Pay and isn’t seen within a reasonable amount of time (15 days?), she should put in another Co Pay. If she still isn’t seen, she should file a 602.
I. Meals in Evenings Being Missed by Med Line Patients: B yard recently had an evening where there was a long pill line. There was a medical emergency that night, requiring the Sergeant’s attention. The med lines had to be stopped. In the meantime, the dinner line closed. The Sergeant was able to get box lunches for the patients. This was a one-time problem, and they are monitoring the 3rd Watch, and have more Sergeants available now.
J. Medical Authorization Forms – How a Family Member Can Discuss Medical Issues with VSPW Health Staff: Any inmate can ask to fill out a Medical Authorization Form. This will allow her outside physician or family member to discuss medical issues with the VSPW Health Department. The inmate must be the one to ask for this Form.
If a family member contacts the Health Department, but their inmate loved one has not yet signed a Medical Authorization Form, the family member should ask the Health Department to ask the inmate if she would like to get someone from her family authorized. The family should give the VSPW Health Department the Inmate’s name and prisoner number. VSPW will ducat the inmate to come in and sign the Authorization Form. After that, the Health Department may discuss whatever the inmate has authorized.
Otherwise, the Health Department may only discuss general items with the family member. General information may be obtained from the Health Care Manager’s Office. When a family member calls VSPW, he or she may ask for the Health Care Manager’s Office, and someone there will help.
II. CANTEEN CART UPDATE
There is one new cart per Yard. One cart mainly handles one person at a time. When there are 10 to 15 inmates shopping at one time, the cart situation is inadequate. More carts are needed.
Warden Henry explained that these is just no money in the budget for more carts right now.
There was a question about why inmates can’t cross certain lines to get a cart. Captain Eichenberger explained that each Yard has their own assigned cart. Each cart is marked for the facility it belongs to. It is kept in a special place. The lines separate facilities. Each cart should be in its’ own facility, and that is the one the inmate must use. That is why they can’t cross the line to get a different cart.
The Staff was concerned that the problem of not having enough carts is NOT something that has been brought up internally. The Staff hasn’t heard any complaints from WAC, and there hasn’t been any 602 on this. They told us that if there are any further complaints about lack of carts, it MUST be through WAC or through the 602 process. The Inmate Family Council encourages any inmate who has a problem using a cart to carry her canteen purchases should make a formal 602 complaint. Otherwise, the Staff will assume there is no problem, and no one has a complaint. The inmates may also tell WAC, talk to a Captain, or send a note to Captain Eichenberger. The Inmate Family Council encourages inmates to make sure the complaint is written down, so that there is a record of it.
III. Hobby Craft
A. Hobby Craft Christmas Donation Project: There were 97 hats and 97 scarves delivered to the Veteran’s Hospital in Fresno for Christmas. The PIO at the VA Hospital, Mr. Phillips, took photos. VSPW hasn’t received any copies of these photos, and someone will probably need to ask Mr. Phillips for copies.
An Administrative Assistant from VSPW needs to report this project to CDC Headquarters, so Javier Cavazos said he would follow up with Mr. Phillips.
ACTION ITEM: JAVIER CAVAZOS WILL FOLLOW UP WITH VA HOSPITAL PIO MR. PHILLIPS TO GET PHOTOS OF THE CHRISTMAS HOBBY CRAFT DONATIONS PROGRAM.
B. Does Hobby Craft Receive Fundraising Money? The Hobby Craft program does not receive fundraising money through Hobby Craft programs. Also, the Inmate Welfare Fund only allows a small allocation to Hobby Craft, just for funding indigent loans. These have to be requested from the IWF by Hobby Craft, which they do on a monthly basis. When the inmates sell consignment Hobby Craft items, 10% of that sale is allocated to the Inmate Welfare Fund, and 90% is returned to the inmate.
C. Stored Kiln Items: Items stored during the Hobby Craft down time had to either be claimed when the program closed or when it reopened recently. Only unmarked materials were disposed of. If they could be identified, the staff tried to find the inmate. Some had been released, some had been moved, etc. When inmates couldn’t be found, the items were disposed of. There was a lot of loose stuff that wasn’t labeled, and a lot of that has been removed.
Hobby Craft is still having some startup problems, but there has only been one 602 filed. There may be another one as of the day of the IFC meeting.
D. Mailing Out and Tracking Mailed Hobby Craft Materials: There is a procedure for keeping track of items mailed out from Hobby Craft. The information is kept on file, in a Hobby Craft file that each inmate has. Any inmate has the right to look at her file. She should submit a “Inmate Interview Request” form.
IV. LAUNDRY QUESTIONS AND OPEN LINE CLOTHING EXCHANGE
State issued clothing may not be washed in the personal washing machines during regular washing periods. State issued things that can’t be washed in the personal machines include the colored CDC jumpsuits, state issued pants and shirts (blue jeans and baseball shirts), sheets, and pillowcases. All state issue items need to go into the general laundry.
Each Facility has its’ own general laundry. A laundry cart comes around in the mornings. Pants, shirts, pillowcases and sheets are put in pillowcases, and are labeled with the name of the inmate, and a list of the items to be exchanged. The laundry cart goes to the laundry room, and when the cart comes back, clean items are redistributed to inmates. If they are missing things in the return, they need to talk to the Housing Officer.
There is a State Clothing Exchange once a week. This allows inmates who need new clothing (because the old ones are torn, worn out, or seriously stained) to get exchanges. Real dirty jobs have been given extra exchanges, and these have already been negotiated. There are also some workers who have received special clearance to use the personal washers for some state issued clothing. However, this does not include kitchen workers. Kitchen workers currently use the baseball shirts and jeans, and they are issued 4 pairs of pants and 3 shirts.
There are some inmates that have complained to their families that exchanges are too big or too small. They have also told family members that the Open Line to exchange old State Issue for new State Issue only allows 15 people a week to get new clothing, and that this is not enough to handle the amount of prisoners that need to exchange for new clothing.
Staff says that the slots are quite adequate to handle the amount of inmates that should need new issue. They state that there have been no 602 complaints from the yards in reference to shortages or problems with exchanges. There have also been no complaints to the WAC. Without 602s or complaints through WAC, it is assumed that this is NOT a problem.
The IFC appreciates the Staff explaining the procedures with us, so families can understand better how the laundry system works.
V. VENDORS
The Inmate Family Council would appreciate receiving a list of currently approved vendors. We have inquiries about vendors from families on a regular basis, and are unsure who is available and approved by VSPW. Even though the inmates have the ability to send out vendor forms, this doesn’t work for Special Purchases, which aren’t usually handled by forms. Also, several families are now using the internet to order, and the forms don’t apply. As a matter of fact, the inmates can simply send a list of what they want on regular stationery, so sometimes the forms and the form information doesn’t reach the families. We would like to post this information on the VSPW website.
The IFC also reports that D&D has improved their on-line ordering.
ACTION ITEM: LT. DONALDSON WILL GET THE UPDATED VENDOR LIST TO THE IFC.
VI. PERSONAL PROPERTY
The initial implementation of the 6 cubic foot rule has occurred. Inmate cells have been searched, and extra materials have been removed for shipment home or for donation. The 6 cubic foot search can be done whenever it is deemed necessary. There will be no exemptions for women in prison. There is a backlog in the mail out of excess materials. What the status of that backlog is cannot be determined at this meeting, as the boxes would have been shipped out directly through the mailroom and not through R&R. The staff member that could answer mailroom questions is not at this meeting. The 6 cubic foot rule allows for no personal clothing except for underwear, shoes and sweats. Books are included in the 6 cubic foot rule.
VII. COLLEGE STUDY COURSES
The Youthful Offender Program currently offers some college courses. There is also another college correspondence program that enrolls prisoners, out of Ohio. There are also some inmates that have enrolled no their own in various other correspondence courses.
SCEP Zack Patrick is currently looking into on-campus college courses being presented by outside volunteers from California colleges. So far, Merced and Madera have shown no interest. He will also be contacting Ironwood, CIW, Chuckawalla and San Quentin to inquire about their outside college programs, as these prisons have currently active programs.
VIII. TOILET PAPER
Toilet paper inventory in the warehouse is fine, but the inmates are having trouble getting toilet paper on request in the individual units, especially during the evenings. Sometimes toilet paper requests have ended up having their rooms searched, apparently in retaliation.
It was reported that there were mid-January job changes for staff. It was recognized that there is a need for BCD training for issuance of hygiene products, and for training on how CO’s should be handling shortages. Staff needs to be retrained. Captain McCullough has met with the WAC, but hasn’t had this discussed yet at WAC.
When there is a particular staff member that is causing problems with hygienic product distribution, the inmates should ask the WAC to bring this up. Each yard has WAC representatives that meet with the facility Captain regularly. If there is a particular staff member that is retaliating or taking other inappropriate actions, this should be brought up through WAC.
IX. SENDING IN BOOKS
UPS cannot deliver mail to a post office box. When people order books from a Publisher or Distributor, they need to be able to give a street address for delivery, if the Publisher is using UPS. The street address for VSPW is 21633 Avenue 24, Chowchilla, CA 93610.
ACTION ITEM: MARVIN COOLBAUGH WILL PUT THIS STREET ADDRESS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF OUR WEBSITE.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:38 PM.
Next Meeting: Friday, April 1, 2005, 1:00 PM
VSPW Warden’s Conference Room
Minutes prepared by Nancy Rubinstein
Agenda Items for next meeting due by March 19, 2005.
Return to Top
Return to Home Page
Return to Meeting Archives
Web Page Designed and Published By:
Computer Consulting Service
Return to Home Page
Return to Meeting Archives
Web Page Designed and Published By:
Computer Consulting Service