California has the most women incarcerated anywhere in the USA, and more than most other countries, as well. We have three women's prisons in California, and they are all extremely overcrowded. Many of these women have children, and many were abused before arrest. All three of these prisons, Valley State Prison for Women, Central California Women's Facility, and Corona Institute for Women, have active Inmate Family Councils. I work with the one at VSPW, and the board members are great. We're working to increase positive communications with the administration, and are making steady progress. If anyone has any questions, just let us know. You're welcome to email me or post here if you have comments, questions or concerns that relate to women's prisons (lonemtn@snowcrest.net). Hang in there! Nancy R.
I have a cousin in Chowchilla, 2 pages of her letter was all about how many diseases there are going around there, Hep C it was disturbing! She's sounds good other than that. She is hoping to get her children back and in a stable place with the help of some program.
Thanks for the info
Yes, Hep C is a big problem, and we're all worried about MRSA, antibiotic-resistant staph infection. I've had women at VSPW with serious cases, and the staff has realized how serious it can be. I know that one of the mens' prisons recently had several guards that became infected....so the CCPOA (the guard's union in California) is taking this a lot more seriously these days. Women tend to keep their rooms pretty clean, compared to men, and use sanitary napkins for a variety of non-approved cleaning projects, so we hope that traveling infections will be a little less impactive than elsewhere. But when crowding is so bad, it's always a huge risk. NLR