This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Chowchilla.
Dear Anonymous,
I am currently incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) and I am writing this letter on behalf of myself and the women here at CCWF.
Since being housed here at CCWF, I have observed that the medical is a bare minimum of what the women need. If you need a specialty service, most time it is denied, not necessarily by the doctors but by their supervisors. Currently, I have been waiting to see the heart doctor since the last time I was seen by him and this was in February 2020. I am being told that because of COVID-19 this doctor’s visit is being delayed.
This is also the case for several other women here, but you would think that due to COVID-19, medical would be trying to make sure we get the care we need. Which makes this situation since COVID-19 very scary, as a sick inmate may not get the care they need.
There is no such thing as preventative medicine here. It seems to be the practice here that medical issues are only treated, or diagnostic test are only ordered when it is necessary and by then the inmate is either incapacitated or very ill.
We have a transitional care unit here at CCWF. There are some inmates that are seriously ill in this unit and then there are some inmates that are seriously ill that were “kicked” out of this unit.
Since COVID-19, inmates who have a C-Pap machine are now housed in the transitional care unit in single cells. However, we have women here that are 65 and older with respiratory heart conditions and other issues who are housed in cells with seven other women with no room for social distancing. These women are at high risk for COVID-19 but are not treated as such.
There was a woman who was housed here that paroled in October of 2O2O, who was 89 years old. When COVID-19 became an issue in the world and our prison went on modified program on March 18, 2020, this woman had seven months left on her sentence. However, the powers that be refused to let this woman go home early. This woman is 89 years old and is high risk for COVID-19. Why couldn’t they let her go home early so that she would be safe?
There are other women here that are older who have a short time left on their sentence, and are at high risk for COVID-19. However, there has not been any arrangements made to let these women go back home early, why? Most of these women have release dates. If they are going back out into society anyway, what difference does it makes if they go out early so that they can protect themselves from COVID-19.
This is just one example of how CDCR is not trying to bring the population down to protect the health of the inmates. Currently, we are on a modified program per Governor Gavin Newsom. But even with a modified program there is no social distancing because the prison is still overcrowded. When you house eight inmates in a cell that was originally made for four inmates, there is no way to social distance.
The inmates in this and other prisons will never be safe until the prison population is brought down to a manageable level.
We also have issues with the mental health patients who need a higher level of care. There are inmates who are housed in the Enhanced Outpatient Program (EOP) that will never be able to live in general population, and I do not say this lightly.
I have been incarcerated for 33 years, and have watched a lot of these things happen. These inmates are easily recognizable by looking at their prior record of when they were released at other times into general population. However, the head of the psychiatry department, sometimes against the advice of the assigned clinician, insists on continually placing these inmates into general population when all other attempts have failed.
Some of these inmates are violent, but that does not make a difference. The inmates in general population are not equipped to deal with these inmates. But they force us to house with these inmates at the risk of our safety.
These are just a few issues here at CCWF and I am sure at other prisons also. I feel that based on the medical care and other issues, my incarceration has been abusive.
When a person is subject to less than adequate medical care and cannot protect themselves from a medical crisis, cannot protect themselves from the threat of another inmate some of which have serious mental health issues and the potential to be violent, cannot protect themselves from a worldwide contagious disease that has killed millions because there is not enough room to social distance, then there needs to be some serious prison reform.
I really hope this letter gives you some insight as to what we go through in the prison system, I also pray that you can help us.
Thank you so much for your time and a listening ear. May God bless you and yours.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
