Hello Everyone-
I am extremely new to all of this having just read a few of the discussions, I decided to sign up and become a member with all of you. First off my boyfriend Dustin has been in the west valley detention center since october of 2002 and he is getting sent off to Wasco next week. Neither one of us have any idea what is soon coming into our lives and I would very much appreciate it if any of you can enlighten me as to what I should expect in the months to come. Dustin's sentence is 4 years at half time. This is his first violation of the law and he has been told that he will either be put on level 1 or level 2 classification. We already received all of his paperwork, and put money on his books so that it will be there when he arrives at wasco, so I was wondering if that will cut the receiving time down? Do you know if there is a standard prison in which most level 1's and 2's go to? Also, does anyone have any knowledge of any "nice" southern california prisons which have level 1, or 2? Please let me know I am 20 years old and am very busy with school and I have absolutely no support in this with the exception of his family. Please any information will help me!
thank you-
Lauren

Hi Lauren,

My man was at Wasco, it is a reception center where they get processed then sent to another prison. He was at Wasco for 3 months before he was moved. Just so you know it takes them about 4-5 weeks to get mail. We had one hour visits behind glass. Now we have 6 hour contact visits. As for chosing the prison you want him to go to, does not work they send them wherever they want to send them. And if you request a certain place they may send him farther. They can be pretty heartless. My friend wanted her man to stay at wasco because she lived in bakersfield. Well all her hardship reasons and requests did not help, they sent him to Susanville, 9-10 hours away from her. I got lucky my man is only 2 1/2 hours away from me. Good luck and let me know how things go and welcome to PTO.

I've been to Wasco three times for reception. So I know the place pretty well. If you have any questions I'll answer any that I can. He will probably go to C yard which is dorms, as long as he doesn't have any problems where he is now. I do have a question. How did you put money on his books at Wasco. That is new to me. He will probably be classified as a level 2, & go to a level 2 prison. He may get lucky & be classified as a level 1, but he may still go to a level 2 till they have room on a 1 yard. Every prison has a 1 yard because these are the people who do the work outside the gate, & can do work on any yard, & do a lot of the clerk jobs. He will stay at Wasco for 3 weeks to 3 months or more but will probably be there between 3-6 weeks. He will be inside his dorm which has a couple hundred guys in it all day. They will have yard call every other day for one hour. They are fed in the dorm. The food is OK, but by the time they get it, it isn't very hot anymore. Mail takes forever. He can get books sent from the book store like Borders or Barnes & Knoble. He can get a fish draw for canteen when he first gets there so he can get what he needs. He will go through testing while at Wasco. Reception for the most part is is OK on the C yard. They also put some guys on the B yard which is cells, & is better than dorms as far as I'm concerned, but your locked in your cell all day long so it's not for everyone. They also have the D yard but this is for lifers & he won't go there unless he's a problem. I ended up on the D yard last time around, & it was definately different. CDC segragates prisoners, & everything is divided along racial lines, & the prisoner rules are mostly race based. As for the prison he will go to, it really doesn't do any good to request one, & his counslor will recomend one which is useless so don't ghet your hopes up. No counslor recomendation has ever been followed that I know of, at least not with me. They send you to the prison that has a bed. There is a list of all the prisons on the CDC web site. If you can't find it, I'll send you the link. If you want you can post your questions which is best. I was in & out of The Calif penal system for over 15 yrs so I can pretty much answer any question you have.------Ken

Thank you for your help. Does anyone have any idea where any good P.C yards are?

protective custody? you mean?

Hi Sillurian!
My husband is at Wasco. I go there every weekend. If you ever want a ride, just let me know!
Good Luck!

hi this is a question for anyone who knows about sending money to wasco does it have to be a postal money order ? if you can help with this question i would greatly appreciate it thanks

sillurian, PC yards don't really exist. They are called SNY or sensitive needs yards. If your boyfriend is a first termer, I don't think he would be going to a SNY. SNYs are for inmates that are not suitable for a general population yard for a host of reasons.

Also Wasco procesing is slow so figure about 70 days there. If your boyfriend is medically cleared, and has no escapes, arsons, hold or sex realted offenses, he might be eligible for camp placement. Since he is eligilbe for 1/2 he was not convicted of a violent felony and if he is otherwise eligible he could earn more sentence reduction credits at camp which would decrease his overall term. Any more questions ??

money to wasco has to be a postal money order made out to the inmate. don't forget to put the inmate's number on the money order also.