My biggest trouble was a shit load of idle time and nothing constructive to do with it. At least the Guardian is giving you something to do constructive (hopefully) with your time.

"Just a Guy" has his finger on the pulse of CDCR. CSP-Solano is the pilot facility for AB 900 rehabilitation programming and it as "Just a Guy" describes. There are supposed to be 4 other areas of rehabilitation programming besides Substance Abuse and Education. But they don't exist. In addition, CDCR is requiring so much from their leisure time activities, under which are AA and NA fall, to name a few, that Staff Sponsors have been quitting and there is not one to sponsor the groups. CDCR also has to apply for a hiring exemption to hire new staff sponsors and this has been taking way too long.

Inmates leave prison every day on determinant sentences and a few by the Parole Board. They need to be ready. But despite glossy pamphlets, positive news releases and other rhetoric claiming a focus on rehabilitation, little, if any really exists. But ultimately, crime is a social issue. Until we begin to solve the underlying problems that plague our society, crime will continue and incarceration rates will escalate. These ills are inequality, poverty, poor education, poor parenting, discrimination, sub-standard health care, lack of opportunities, poor or no mental health care...on and on.) Societies where there is a much smaller gap between the rich and the poor enjoy a much higher quality of life. In addition, CDCR makes no use of all the advances in the behavioral sciences and education that inform us on how to provide more successful rehabilitation. Until California is willing to undertake real reform, the prison crisis will continue.

Elaina Jannell, Ph.D.
AFSCME Local 2620

"Just a Guy" has his finger on the pulse of CDCR. CSP-Solano is the pilot facility for AB 900 rehabilitation programming and it as "Just a Guy" describes. There are supposed to be 4 other areas of rehabilitation programming besides Substance Abuse and Education. But they don't exist. In addition, CDCR is requiring so much from their leisure time activities, under which are AA and NA fall, to name a few, that Staff Sponsors have been quitting and there is not one to sponsor the groups. CDCR also has to apply for a hiring exemption to hire new staff sponsors and this has been taking way too long.

Inmates leave prison every day on determinant sentences and a few by the Parole Board. They need to be ready. But despite glossy pamphlets, positive news releases and other rhetoric claiming a focus on rehabilitation, little, if any really exists. But ultimately, crime is a social issue. Until we begin to solve the underlying problems that plague our society, crime will continue and incarceration rates will escalate. These ills are inequality, poverty, poor education, poor parenting, discrimination, sub-standard health care, lack of opportunities, poor or no mental health care...on and on.) Societies where there is a much smaller gap between the rich and the poor enjoy a much higher quality of life. In addition, CDCR makes no use of all the advances in the behavioral sciences and education that inform us on how to provide more successful rehabilitation. Until California is willing to undertake real reform, the prison crisis will continue.

Elaina Jannell, Ph.D.
AFSCME Local 2620

I can imagine, Jerry. I think Just A Guy's point here is that rehabilitation and training programs are not about coddling prisoners; they're about making sure that when the prisoners are released -- and most of them eventually are -- they'll have a way to integrate back into society without having to return to crime. Most crime -- in fact, the vast majority of crime -- is based on either economics or addiction, and the two are often linked. People who have decent jobs are less likely to commit crimes and people who have decent substance abuse treatment are more likely to be able to live crime-free lives. That means society as a whole is safer and better off. And it's much, much cheaper to pay for training and rehab than to pay the costs of re-incarcerating someone who can't make it on the outside.

Uh Tim,

What happened to the first chapter? The first thread? You interrupted a discussion in mid-thought and buried it? Where is it?

h.

Elaina:

An inmate that recently arrived here from CSP-Solano is who told me about the SAP program and how CDCR has been forcing people that don't meet the CDCR/AB900 requirements into the program anyway. That inmates with no substance abuse history are forced in to fill a slot, that a new SAP area had just been built and completed in a record amount of time, yet the buildings housing the majority of inmates have broken air conditioners. It's not just CSP-Solano though that has problems. The word in here and other prisons about CSP Solano is that Solano, supposedly, is the prison with the most cell phones and one of the only level two prisons where you can have televisions. Strangely enough, Solano is also the prison with the least amount of problems between inmates and inmates and staff and inmates. Wonder what the correlation for violence is compared to prisons like Jamestown or Susanville where there is, trust me, significantly less contraband and overt corruption i.e. Cell phones and tobacco and no personal TV's allowed.

You said:

"Societies where there is a much smaller gap between the rich and the poor enjoy a much higher quality of life."

My question then is this: who determines what a higher quality of life is and by what criteria.

I also believe that these societies probably don't have as many (perceived?) freedoms as we do and are probably socialist.

"Until California is willing to undertake real reform, the prison crisis will continue."

California will never do this unless the public really understands how much of their paycheck is going to support the prison industry.

Ten billion a year divided by thirty-three million people equals three hundred three dollars per person per year. So every person donates over three dollars to the cause.

I wonder if that three hundred dollars is making the people in bad neighborhoods feel any safer? I wonder how a family of four making forty-five thousand a year (gross) feels about their twelve-hundred dollar donation! Or how many of their books at community college a lower income student may have been able to buy?

I also wonder how much crime is a pure social issue and not a media issue. I mean, I suppose everthing is a social issue of some kind, but how much of the fear is a result of the false information given to the media by CDCR and reported as factual. Why do you never see interviews with inmates that aren't Charlie Manson or the like? Not only that, not too many inmates, if given the chance, will be willing to tell the truth publicly, while in prison without anonymity, because you can believe the retribution would happen swiftly. And, it's not like CDCR would allow that to happen anyway, or if they did,
they would select someone the media could speak with that may not be able to articulate for us in a positive light.

Quite frankly, the mainstream media doesn't care to show the other side of the story anyway. That's patently obvious to me, when's the last time you saw a program on cable or network TV showing us in any sort positive light? If ever?

We are relegated, no disrespect Tim, to the left leaning media which has the guts to question things. Then, a lot of people will say that its drivel because SFBG reported it, or PBS etc...

I DARE the mainstream media to pick up this blog, or contact Tim Redmond and inquire more.

"In addition, CDCR makes no use of all the advances in the behavioral sciences and education that inform us on how to provide more successful rehabilitation."

If the behavioral science supports the contention that we are not able to be rehabilitated, or it supports the CDCR and CCPOA propaganda they will certainly make use of it. It's kind of like going to a doctor for a second opinion till you get the one you want to hear.

Tim is right, but I mean much more than that.

He said:

"I think Just A Guy's point here is that rehabilitation and training programs are not about coddling prisoners; they're about making sure that when the prisoners are released -- and most of them eventually are -- they'll have a way to integrate back into society without having to return to crime."

My main point is:

There are programs, but they are just not available like the public believes they are. And what you are being told is a program is a program only in name. Jerry knows exactly what I mean. Building maintenance certificate is a guy that sweeps and mops the floor!

Jerry:

Idle time creates

Plotting and planning and scamming and

Oh man

Dastardly deeds and seeds of nefarious leanings and dealings and stealings of

Human minds plucked away at their weakest and contrived to be the meanest

h: I didn't interrupt anything, the last post is here (and is linked to Just A Guy's name at the top of this post)

http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2009/04/prison_report_letters_from_the.html

You can keep commenting on that one, too, if you want.

I totally agree with the educational opportunities that you can get while incarcerated.

If someone has a high school diploma or a GED, there are no opportunities for higher learning. My son is one of those. We cannot afford to pay for books and neither can he. He would love to take some college courses, but he is too "high functioning".

My son is disabled and there are very few "jobs" that he is able to do. Every letter he tells me how bored he is - nothing to do.

When he gets out, he will have to learn all the new technology. He's been in for 6 years with 3 more to do and before he was incarcerated he had a desk job working on computers. The technology has changed so much he will have to relearn everything since inmates have no access to computers.

"....and is sent off with two-hundred dollars of "gate money," out of which he has to purchase his bus ticket from Southern California to Northern California. Makes a lot of sense, right?"

Do you know that in the 19th Century when a man was released from prison he was given a gun, a horse and a $20 gold piece? What would those items be worth today? Answer: Enough to give a parolee a chance of existing long enough to get a job. Instead, the $200 has to be used to buy a ticket to the county you were convicted in - which is stupidity unless you have family ties there. Why make it mandatory that a parolee MUST go back to the county of conviction rather than to where he has family and support?

California is stuck on stupid....everything revolves in place and never goes forward. Just like a broken record.

Just.....are you going to cover the sad state of Mental Health Care in Prison? I hope so.

The problem with "rehabilitation" is that CDCR doesn't believe that it will work, and with that attitude, it never will. It is just politics- designed to keep legislators from changing laws that might put addicts in community based treatment rather than prison. The ultimate goal of any large bureaucracy is to 'grow' the organization, so if CDCR has to do 'pretend' rehabilitation to quiet their critics they are more than willing to do so.

Take CSATF F & G facilities as an example- this is CDCR's flagship drug rehabilitation program. It doesn't matter if you have a drug problem, you get mandated there if there is a bed to fill. 8 men in 4 man cells, level 1 camp eligible inmates housed with level 2, level 3, and lifers. Don't have a drug problem? That doesn't matter, maybe you smoked a joint in high school..that's good enough, you are mandated to CSATF.

The 'program' consists of Walden House providers, poorly trained and few have any background or education in substance abuse counseling. They get paid around $11 an hour for reading printed material to groups of inmates. It is not a theraputic community, there is no one-on- one counseling, no screening to see if drug problems are mitigated by mental illness, no confrontational therapy. Mandated inmates sit sullenly in groups, wishing they were doing their time somewhere else, anywhere else.. getting little if anything out of the hundreds of millions spent on this boondoggle, but that doesn't stop CDCR. They parade the legislators, the highly paid university researchers and whoever else they can find through the place regularly, showing them what a dandy job CDCR is doing at 'rehabilitation'.

There is no vocational program, no post GED education, not even a hobby program in CSATF, there is nothing more than mind numbingly repetitive Walden House counseling sessions. Too bad if you are there more than 6 months, because that's all the curriculum that Walden House provides it's counselors, so when you are done, you just start all over again.

Most of those posting here have done a great job of describing the abysmal failures of the California Department of Corrections. I met Mathew Cates earlier this month and asked him about the lack of programs, especially for those in need of substance abuse. I pointed out California had sentenced 690 people for 25 years to life under Three Strikes for simple drug possession. None are even eligible for substance abuse programs until 23 years their term has been served. He did everything he could to avoid addressing my question. He finally told me he just did not have the resources. In fact only a fraction of the inmates receive treatment, yet the largest majority of prisoners are in prison for drug/alcohol or related crimes. Since the governor has come into office the budget for corrections has doubled from 5.3 billion dollars to 10.6 billion dollars. If the public only knew!

Madhatter:

Eventually I will cover it. It is something that really needs to be discussed.

Pixiedust:

"Take CSATF F & G facilities as an example- this is CDCR's flagship drug rehabilitation program. It doesn't matter if you have a drug problem, you get mandated there if there is a bed to fill"

This is true everyone.

It would be really great if you could tell us where you get your info without revealing your identity (if you don't want to) to give what you say credibility. One of the things that seems to be lacking is credible sources of information. A lot of people aren't going to believe what I say just because I'm incarcerated, so the more people that back up what I write, that are in positions to have witnessed the truth, the more credible I am.

Another thing that Pixiedust says is:

"The 'program' consists of Walden House providers, poorly trained and few have any background or education in substance abuse counseling. They get paid around $11 an hour for reading printed material to groups of inmates. It is not a theraputic community, there is no one-on- one counseling, no screening to see if drug problems are mitigated by mental illness, no confrontational therapy. Mandated inmates sit sullenly in groups, wishing they were doing their time somewhere else, anywhere else.. getting little if anything out of the hundreds of millions spent on this boondoggle, but that doesn't stop CDCR. They parade the legislators, the highly paid university researchers and whoever else they can find through the place regularly, showing them what a dandy job CDCR is doing at 'rehabilitation'. There is no vocational program, no post GED education, not even a hobby program in CSATF, there is nothing more than mind numbingly repetitive Walden House counseling sessions. Too bad if you are there more than 6 months, because that's all the curriculum that Walden House provides it's counselors, so when you are done, you just start all over again."

I have not been in the above referenced program, but what you're saying rings true. You can not make recovery compulsory. Period. It will only breed resentment and may do more harm than good.

Frank Courser:

The public does know, they just ignore it because they can't comprehend that amount of money. They really don't understand how it affects their lives, how it affects their children's lives, and their bank accounts. If they could it wouldn't be the way it is.

Look, things are as they are because of fear. The fear is perpetuated by the CCPOA and CDCR in order to keep the prison machine running that employs so many people, they are afraid the truth will cost them their livelihoods. The media thinks it's doing it's job by reporting what they are told, but they do no real investigating, if they do try and investigate CDCR makes it hard for them to get any relevant information and it's completely biased toward CDCR because no information is gathered from us with journalistic integrity, yet we're the ones being talked and reported about. It's so ridiculous it's almost funny.

Would you automatically vote for one candidate in an election if you knew his/her politics but knew nothing about the opponent? Would just believe everything a politician says during an election about his opponent or would you check it out for yourself? This situation is no different. It is easier to take another's word for something than to think for oneself. Why not, then your responsibility has been absolved.

I mean, people really don't get that a lot of these guards are making over 100,000 a year and all they do is sit down for eight hours. SERIOUSLY. I see it all day every day. They sit there and DO NOTHING. One of them might walk around once in an eight hour shift. It's pathetic. It's great for us though because we don't want them knowing what were doing anyway.

What do you think would happen if the mainstream media were able to pick and interview a random selection of ten PEOPLE/inmates from every prison in California if the were inmates guaranteed their safety and anonymity? CDCR doesn't want to know what would happen, and neither does most of the public because they can't bear to see the reflection of themselves in us.

The sand in California is dotted with the backs of the many necks, or the millions of heads buried in it.

As a person who has been through the system I can validate all of what you have said.

justaguy I tried to post something and it said held for moderator approval, the last time that happened my post never showed up, so I will try again and leave out the only word that I can think might have triggered the 'naughty word filter'.

"It would be really great if you could tell us where you get your info without revealing your identity"

Justaguy- My information came from a family member who is incarcerated in CSATF. When he started telling me about CSATF (and my post didn't even cover 5% of what he has said) I was appalled. I am familiar with the problems that are inherent in a large bureacracy; inefficiency, slow to change, etc. But from what he was saying, this was different- it sounded like an organization that was out of control.

So, out of curiosity, I googled 'CSATF' said about the facility, and it didn't take long to find out that there has been a great deal written about CSATF, it seems CDCR has no shortage of money to commission universities to prepare annual studies of its substance abuse programs; specifically the program at CSATF. But year after year the reports all mention the same problems; Ineffective program, administered by a poorly trained staff impacted by frequent lockdowns and forced participation. No positive reinforcement, no incentive for participation, no services post release. Inspite of that, nothing ever changes...The most damning report of all came from the Office of Inspector General, the agency Matt Cate formerly ran.
Here are two quotes from the 2007 report which specifically addressed CSATF:

"California's $1-billion investment in drug treatment for prisoners since 1989 has been "a complete waste of money," the state's inspector general said Wednesday, and has done nothing to reduce the number of inmates cycling in and out of custody"
"One study of the two largest in-prison programs found that recidivism rates for inmates who participated were actually a bit higher than those of a group of convicts who did not receive treatment, Inspector General Matt Cate said."

That is the same Matt Cate who is now the head of CDCR. Since he took charge of CDCR I have not heard him utter one word about addressing the problems that he reported on in 2007. I can only hope that this is not an indication of how he intends to manage CDCR

Just a guy--

It is probably true what you hear about SAP. CDCR is supposed to be using COMPAS to assess risk and criminogenic needs and then develop an individualized program depending on results of the COMPAS assessment, and other indicated secondary assessments, when needed. But CDCR does not know the meaning of the word "individualized" and they are having CCII's carry out all of this assessment and assignment, rather than psychologists. Also, they do have two new buildings that they "need to fill" and they overestimated the number of places they need. The buildings are nice and they have lots of office space. In the meantime, psychologists and social workers are sharing offices, being forced into reconstructed utility closets in the dorms to be used as offices, and their general expertise is being restricted to the Coleman mental health program and banned from working in the rehabilitation programs. And, yes, those utility closet offices do not have air conditioning along with the dorms that don't have air conditioning or it is broken. In addition, the emphasis is all over education and substance abuse treatment, but they are ignoring the other 4 areas recommended by the Expert Panel: anger management, domestic violence and violence prevention, marriage and family relationships and cognitive/behavior restructuring.

We do have the most cell-phones at Solano. How do they get in? Guess. They also have very low levels of inmate/inmate and inmate/staff violence. Maybe because they are occupied with their TV's and cell phones. But basically, most of the inmates are sitting around. You are correct, there are programs, but not nearly enough for everyone and not one's that are really useful in today's market. And don't get me started on the number they are doing on the lifers.

There was a book that came out in March, 2009, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, who are both epidemiologists. It's called "The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better." They began by studying health care, but later expanded it to look at all sorts of social ills and the bottom line is that a smaller gap between rich and poor was more highly correlated with better quality of life, meaning that the educational systems were better, health care was better, crime was lower, there were lower levels of stress, higher levels of trust, etc. They looked at 20 of the world's richest nations and 50 of the United States. So some may be more socialist, some may not. But Freedom and Socialism are not mutually exclusive. And yes, some of our freedoms are more perceived than they are real.

Yes again, the public does need to understand these issues better. And the media, politicians, law enforcement personnel, and so on, do scare the public, who in it's ignorance, vote for the very things that are getting CDCR into trouble. Apparently the public has been willing to pay for it. What they don't understand is that tougher and tougher penalties are not the deterrents that they hope for. And that this is not the best investment in public safety. But the financial limit seems to have been reached. What we really want is safer streets. And since the average prison stay is 2.7 years, if we allow inmates to return to the streets no better off then when they came in, then the level of public safety has not been improved by that person's prison stay. This is not coddling or giving criminals something average citizens don't get. Rehabilitation is an investment in public safety and in turning a criminal into a productive and contributing member of society. Generally, it is making up for something that should have been there for them long ago, but wasn't.

Inmates are not the only ones that face retaliation. Staff who stand up for inmates are also subject to such action, as are staff who object to the bad behavior of other staff. There is corruption and cover-up at all levels. Success and positive stories do not sell papers. This is an unfortunate fact of life in the U.S. It is very difficult to get the media to report anything that is not sensational and negative. The only reason CDCR's medical care was noticed was that people were dying. And the only thing that CDCR listens to is lawsuits. The prevailing underlying attitude is that rehabilitation will not work. But in fact, it does if you do it right. And eventually, we will have to wake up to this reality.

Fortunately, the legislature is beginning to catch on to CDCR's ways and are finding out that much of what CDCR says is just blowing smoke. With AFSCME's input, they have proposed a number of good bills that will be beneficial to rehabilitation. However, until there is a bigger attitude shift and a new governor who will exert a more concerted effort toward real rehabilitation, it's still going to be an uphill climb.

Thanks for responding.

Elaina Jannell, Ph.D.
AFSCME Local 2620

Elaina:

I don't want to get in a debate about the differences between the classes and quality of life etc...we can do that on a different forum, but I feel the need to say this:

Does a reduced quality of life for the "rich" equate to an overall better quality of life for the "poor". What I mean is, do we correct this gap by taking away from the more fortunate to give to the less fortunate? What is fortunate? Is having more stuff fortunate? I don't know if reducing the "quality of life" for one to improve it for another is something I agree with. I just don't know. If I am making A's in school should the A's I earned be reduced to B's to give the guy that, for whatever reason, was receiving C's a B? This lucky guy was upgraded at the expense of my A being downgraded to a B so that he has an equal chance to have a better life? I know that's oversimplified, but it is what it is and I don't know that I have an answer.

"But Freedom and Socialism are not mutually exclusive."

Well, some may disagree with that if they are forced to use the government provided doctor/healthcare when they used to have the choice (freedom) to pick whomever they wanted, but that was taken away in the name of "quality of life" or fairness.

Back to the topic.

I commend you on the fact that you are speaking out and risking the retribution and retaliation we talked about. You, Elaina, are the exception and I really hope that your willingness to speak the truth is a motivation for others that work for CDCR to do the same. It takes a lot of integrity to do what you are doing. Thanks.

I think the public is only willing to pay for it because they really don't know what they're paying for! Or they think they're paying for one thing, but it's really another.

Thanks Pixiedust.

Thank you so much for this!! My hubby has been in for 460 days now (getting out in FIVE days!!)

He would not give me alot of details about prison life. I can now see why he did not tell me anything. He did not want me to worry about him even more than I did.

He did tell me he has been on a waiting list for a class since he has been locked up. Here he is 5 days to the house and he STILL has not gotten into the class!! It is absolutely ridiculous. And now they want to put him in a homeless shelter when he gets out as opposed to letting him come home to his family. How the heck is that supposed to help the parolee? The CDCR and Parole are a joke!!

Anyway, thank you for letting us know what it is really like in prison. Best of luck to you.

Kristin

Thanks Kristin, just verifies what I am saying even more.

Imbeciles.

Keep your eye out for tomorrow's blog.