My brother is 51 years old and has been severely schizophrenic since his late teens but functions fairly well on medication. He may be transferring from the Sacramento County Jail psych ward to Tracy for evaluation.

He has been charged with a sex offense against a woman who is mentally disabled to the point where she is considered unable to give informed consent but she verbally requests sex and my brother is too mentally disabled to understand this.


Some of my family's questions are:

-What are the conditions at dvi in Tracy for the severely mentally ill ?

-How does the process work for deciding where he'll go from Tracy ?

(We were told that he is likely to placed in one of these facilitys after evaluation at Tracy.) California Medical Facility in Vacaville
California Men's Colony (East Wing) in San Luis Obispo
and RJ Donovan.

-Who at dvi decides where he'll go and what are their titles ?

-What about his antipsychotic medications ?

-Does family have the ability to communicate with staff ?

-Who are the staff ?

-Does anyone know anyone who has a seriously mentally ill family
member in the prison system who could give us advice based on their
experiences?

Sincerely, JD

He will be seen by a psychiatrist within 48 hours of his arrival. If he exhibits signs of mental illness or starts having problems, he will be seen that day. The psych will make a recommendation(probably one of the three you mentioned) and the CSR ( Classification Service Representative ) will endorse him based on that recommendation. The psych will also arrange for appropriate medications. He will not be assigned a counselor until he's been there a few days, so contact the C&PR ( Classification and Parole Representative ) with your questions/concerns.

Thank you for you reply. I am almost age 50 and this is my first time ever actually "posting" at a forum.

I had the bright idea to post this letter in 5 different forums here and can see that you saw it elsewhere.

I notice today that my letter has systematically been deleted from 4 of the other forums, but is still at this one, so my assumption is that I'm not supposed duplicate my letter in other forums ? Or, I was wondereing if it has something to do with "subscriptions" as I don't quite understand what the subsciptions are about.

Fortunately, I still have the response from Patrickj in my mailbox, since it disappeared from the California Member Introductions forum, so that I can try to figure out how to thank him, too.

Here is his response:

Let me try and answer some of your question about DVI and some of your other questions 1. The conditions at Tracy are not that good for anyone. Your brother will wil get his medication that he needs.The medical and the pscys will pretty much keep him on what ever he is on now. 2. The process to decide where your love one goes. Will be determined by a few factors. Custody leval and his medical conditions. From what you have described your brother will probably be sent to CMF Vacaville While at Tracy he will go througgh the normal intake process which consist of a medical exam, education testing,more then likely he will see a pscy. from what you have written. 3. Who decides where he goes ? Her are some titles of the people or group of people that are part of this process. First he will see a counselor(CC1) who will talk with him about where he would like to go and other things that pertain to his points and custody leval rountine stuff. The counelor submits his/her paperwork to along with any comments or suggestion from the medical department in manner like your brothers. This paperwork is reviewed by the unit supervisor usaly by a CC2 or CC3 (Correctional Counselor) after all of the paper work is in order it is the forwarded to a CSR (Classifaction Service Representive) who usally agree with the reccomandation of the counselors . The CSR persons endorses the person (your brother) to where it is reccomended that he go. 4 Communicate with staff. This just my suggestion take it for what it worth. Try and speak with psychologist at the reception cent and your brothers counselor. Get ready for the run around when you call CDC is good at the run around. It will take you a few calls to get results.Always get the persons name whom you are talking with and there job title. If you get transfered around make sure you get a extension number. This will be a trying process but you can pervail sooner or later . I will get a hold of someone I know and see if I can get you some phone numbers and names,no promise or guarantees thath it will speeed up your calling process.


I am wondering if I am supposed to subscibe to all the different forums in order to keep my post in them ? Do you know how this works ?

Sincerely, JD

Your brothers case is a little different than the norm. Since he has a history of mental illness, the psych will make the primary recommendation. The counselor will complete all the necessary paperwork to determine classification score, level,etc., and will, probably, agree with the psych on where to place your brother. The CCII and CSR are aware of the class action lawsuit on behave of the mentally ill ( In Re Coleman ) and will agree to send him where ever the psych recommends

Thank you JLS for your info. My family will most likely have more questions as things progress and are now in the process of gathering as much info as possible in hopes of staying on top of things as best we can.

Sincerely, JD

Thank you JLS for your answers, your knowledge is helpful!

I found this site on a Tracy prison search. thru yahoo, can you give me the ins and outs of an address for this group?? I just recieved a letter from my son that he is being sent to Tracy from Sonora, California for 18 months. How do I send him money, he has none, how do I contact him, what can i expect. Thank you
Pat

I found this site on a Tracy prison search. thru yahoo, can you give me the ins and outs of an address for this group?? I just recieved a letter from my son that he is being sent to Tracy from Sonora, California for 18 months. How do I send him money, he has none, how do I contact him, what can i expect. Thank you
Pat
Marcellosmama:

I will PM you with some information and answers to your question

Thank you Patrick, I so appreciate all fo your help, I now have his CDC number now and sent him money via Jpay. Many thanks
Pat

So tell me, he is now offically there what happens now?? thanks
Pat

I got a letter from my son today,he asked for tablets, pens and stamps,envelopes. So I can just send these to him at his address,no problems?? I sent him money on JPAY last week and they said that it was sent, but I called the trust today and they said it has not been put on hisbooks as they were doing the month end close out, so they will notify him on Monday that it is there. Which is fine as his areas time at the store is the end of next week. Is there anything else I can do?? thanks somuch for all your help!!
Pat