Mule Creek State Prison

Recommendations 9

• R1

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  • None 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report 39 Staff Accountability: Facts: • The Identix System is a computerized fingerprint identification system that stores data on employees who have entered and exited the secure perimeter. • It is mandatory that all employees use the Identix System when entering and exiting the secure perimeter. This system is located at the two entrances into the secure perimeter, the Front entrance Building and the Vehicle entrance (sally port). • The Identix System prints a report of personnel tracking within 30 to 60 minutes after each shift change. • Every employee on institutional grounds can be accounted for within 30 to 45 minutes. • Measures are immediately taken to locate a staff member if the employee is overdue for departure. • It is also mandatory for all employees to sign in and out on all shifts. Findings: • Keeping track of staff who enter the secure perimeter is high priority to the institution. • Upon entering and exiting the secure perimeter staff were observed using the Identix system. • Supervising staff members review the staffing rosters to ensure staff have signed in or out when reporting or leaving their assignments. If there is a discrepancy the supervisor takes immediate measures to account for that employee.
• R2

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  • None. Institution Security: Facts: • The front entrance and the vehicle sally port are the only access into the secured perimeter. • The front entrance and the vehicle sally port are each staffed by a correctional officer 16 hours a day and covered by the Outside Patrol Sergeant during the night shift. • The front entrance and the vehicle sally port are each overseen by a 24 hour perimeter tower staffed by armed correctional officers. The correctional officers in the towers control the gates electronically. • The Entrance Officer: Ensures each employee uses the Identix System, examines each staff member’s identification cards to ensure authenticity, searches items being brought in or out of the institution, processes official visitors to the institution and directs outside companies to various areas of the Institution. • The Vehicle Sally Port Officer: Positively identifies the individual(s) that are operating and occupying the vehicle and ensures they sign in and out. The officer also ensures employees use the Identix System when entering or exiting the secure perimeter through the vehicle sally port. The officer ensures inmate identification through the verification of 40 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report authorized inmate gate passes. Inmates are also identified and the officer reviews and ensures there is appropriate documentation and inmate gate passes are authorized and complete. • Inmates are also processed through the vehicle sally port by vehicle or controlled escort. • Every vehicle that is processed through the vehicle sally port is thoroughly searched inside and outside.
• R3

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  • None 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report 41 Information Distribution: Facts: • Information is provided on a closed circuit video system by the Media Center supervised by a Television Specialist. The information consists of up coming changes in policies, which programs are operating normally or have been restricted, changes affecting inmate visiting, rule reminders and current events in the facilities, etc. • The Warden or the Administrative Assistant approves the information prior to its being displayed on this closed circuit video system. • Inmates with personal televisions and all dayroom televisions can receive this information on screen.
• R4

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  • None Medical and Mental Health Services: Facts: • There are inmates housed at MCSP that have been identified as being developmentally disabled, with mental illnesses and inmates with less severe physical disabilities that do not have an impact on their housing needs. These inmates are tracked and their mental and medical needs are met. • A new Mental Health Services building is in the process of being built to accommodate the needs of the inmates assigned to the Mental Health Delivery System. • MCSP is staffed with various medical personnel to serve the needs of the inmate population. These employees include medical doctors, nurses, medical technical assistants, dentists, psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, pharmacists, dietitian, laboratory technicians and radiologists, etc. There are specialty clinics that include services for optometry, podiatry, physical therapy and others. • Each facility has a medical and dental clinic. Inmates are charged a $5.00 co-payment for non-emergency medical and dental services. • The Main infirmary has an emergency room, which is equipped and maintained at all times to receive inmates with urgent medical issues. Other inmate medical emergencies or severe health conditions are transported to outside hospitals or other prisons that can accommodate their medical needs. The Main Infirmary is in the process of being renovated for expansion.
• R5

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  • None Response Required: None. 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report 43 Preston Youth Correctional Facility Introduction: Penal Code Section 919(b) mandates that the Grand Jury annually review all prisons and jails within the County. Background: Juveniles committed by juvenile and criminal courts to the California Youth Authority (CYA) are sent to Preston Youth Correctional Facility (PYCF) for treatment and training. The CYA is the largest youth corrections agency in the nation, housing some 5,700 young men and women in eleven institutions and four camps throughout the state, with approximately 4,200 more on parole. PYCF was one of the first two state youthful offender facilities (Reform schools) mandated by the state in 1890 to remove juvenile offenders from adult prisons. The historic landmark "Preston Castle" opened June 13, 1894; many more structures and facilities have been built over the years. PYCF has historically been a role model for innovations in juvenile corrections nationwide. Fourteen living units provide housing, five with rooms which are either single bunked or double bunked, and nine open dormitories. Three of the dormitories have been closed due to declining population. Six specialized treatment programs are offered. Method of Evaluation: Members of the Grand Jury conducted interviews and toured the Preston Youth Correctional Facility. Persons interviewed: Superintendent Assistant Superintendent Chief of Security Training Officer Senior Youth Correctional Counselors Youth Correctional Counselors Youth Correctional Officers Principal of Education Kitchen Staff Stationary Engineer Wards Inmates 44 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report Documents Examined: Welfare and Institution Codes Internet Sites: California Department of the Youth Authority: http://www.cya.ca.gov California Senate: http://www.sen.ca.gov Fresno Bee: http://www.fresnobee.com Demographics: Facts: • PYCF houses male offenders, most between 17 and 19 years of age. The CYA can house offenders up to their 25th birthday. • The offenders are wards of the state or are inmates, juveniles tried as adults. • At the time of the Grand Jury’s first visit in November 2002 to PYCF the population was 560. The population was 511 on a subsequent visit in April 2003. • PYCF has closed three living units in the last 12 months with the most recent occurring on April 1, 2003. • Section 912 of the California Welfare and Institution Code (W & I Code), amended in 1997, states the counties of California will pay a sliding scale percentage of the per capita cost to house a ward in the CYA ranging from 50% to 100% depending on the seriousness of the crime. For many years prior to this the cost to the counties for a ward committed to the CYA was around $300 per year. • The ward per capita cost for 2002/2003 is $49,200. The cost to counties for a ward committed to the CYA can be $24,600 to $49,200 per year. Findings: • The CYA population is declining due to legislative mandates requiring the state to charge counties for CYA commitments. • Counties are keeping juvenile offenders in juvenile halls or county camps. As an example, Fresno County Probation Department, Fresno County had 219 commitments to the CYA at a cost of $109,676 in 1995/1996 fiscal year. The cost increased to $3.8 million in fiscal year 1999/2000 for 110 new commitments to the CYA. • Several CYA Institutions will be closed in the near future. At this time it is undetermined if Preston will be closed. • PYCF has provided community service and economic stability to Ione and Amador County for over one hundred years. 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report 45
• R6

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  • None Treatment Programs: Facts: • There is one living unit that offers a formalized program for wards and inmates with substance abuse problems or the potential for substance abuse problems. • There is an Intensive Treatment Program and a Specialized Counseling Program to assist wards with severe emotional problems. • Wards in these treatment programs are housed in single bunked rooms. Findings: • The wards were living in a safe, secure and clean environment. • Staff appeared interested and cared about the ward’s progress in their treatment goals. • Wards interviewed were able to discuss program goals and their growth in these specialized programs. • The administrators, supervisors, counselors, custody staff, and other personnel have a good working relationship with each other and were very informative. The facility is managed in a professional and yet personable manner, with safety and security of staff and the wards the main concern. • The programs observed afford a ward the realistic opportunity to gain the personal skills and, the basic vocational skills to make a life change and become a productive citizen if he so desires.
• R7

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  • None Educational and Vocational Programs: Facts: • The school at PYCF provides 67% academic classes and 33% vocational training. The academic classes concentrate on wards earning a high school diploma, GED or passing the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE). • There is also a correspondence college program for those wards with a high school diploma or GED. • The teacher to student ratio is one to seventeen. 46 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report • Vocational training includes auto shop, computer graphics, graphic arts, culinary arts, restaurant service, general shop (orientation), janitorial and masonry. • The Ponderosa Fire Training Center, adjacent to the main institution, teaches physical fitness, teamwork, and fire science and safety to wards eligible for placement in Youth Conservation Camps. Ponderosa also has a community service work crew that does work for non-profit and public agencies. Findings: • The school at PYCF is very much like any school in California. • It is hard to compare year to year results from tests such as the STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) test and the High School Exit Examinations because the school does not have the same students each year.
• R8

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  • None Main Kitchen: Facts: • The main kitchen at PYCF was built in 1898 and is one of the oldest in the CYA and is a historical landmark. • All wards at PYCF are served two hot meals and one sack lunch per day, for a total of over 1500 meals per day served. • Wards work in the kitchen doing meal preparation and cleanup and are supervised by kitchen staff and a Youth Correctional Officer. Findings: • The kitchen was clean and well maintained. • The floors are tile and often wet from food preparation, cleaning and mopping. A special soap is used on the floor, which eats the grease to prevent build up. • Where the floors were wet, no “caution wet floor” signs were displayed.
• R9

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  • Place “caution wet floor” signs around any floors that are wet. Response Required: The Amador County Grand Jury requires a response to this report per California Penal Code Section 933.05. 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report 47 Amador County Unified School District 48 2002-2003 Grand Jury Final Report Amador County Unified School District Introduction: The 2002-2003 Grand Jury elected to review and evaluate the Amador County School District (ACUSD) pursuant to Penal Code 933.5. Previous Grand Jury Reports have noted deficiencies in the Transportation Department and the vertical communication between the various departments and the Administration, including the School Board. These problems led to the District being sued by the Amador County District Attorney (DA), which resulted in the suspension of bus service in the District for a month. The operation of unsafe buses could result in serious injuries to students and the general public. Such injuries would expose the District to legal liability, which could result in financial ruin for the District. Prior Grand Jury Reports have also noted that the District had failed to address safety issues set out in the Loss Prevention Survey done by their insurance carrier. These items if left unrepaired could easily lead to serious injury to students and others using school facilities. Compensating such injuries would strain the District’s already tight financial position. Further, a bond issue was passed to make improvements to the District infrastructure. The use of these funds in part to correct the safety issues set out in the Loss Prevention Survey could make the District not only safer but also fiscally more responsible by taking care of maintenance problems when they are small. Maintenance procedures in the Transportation Department and throughout the District were examined to determine why these safety issues remained unresolved Method of Evaluation: Members of the 2002-2003 Grand Jury conducted interviews, reviewed documents, and visited sites. For a complete list, please see