Shafter MCCF Info

[Halo527]

My son is now incarcerated at Shafter MCCF.

Here's some information on this institution. I will post more as I find out about it.

Shafter is a private prison facility and run by the City. It is c a Level 1 and 2 facility. It currently has mostly inmates that have proven they have good behavior but who tend to have longer sentences. It consists of 6 dorms that hold about 80 guys each. My son says the food is good. He also is able to use the phone whenever he likes. He said there is a microwave in the dorm and two large screen tvs.

They do have educational courses and rehabilitation programs but they are crowded and can take a while to get into. I did find out that there are correspondence courses that the guys can sign up for but families do have to pay for textbooks.

The visiting room is small so make your appointments as soon as you can. The security to get in is not as intense as at Wasco where my son was previously at. We only waited a short while to get in. The guards are in blue uniforms and guys wear denim so don't wear blue. They do have vending machines that are less expensive

I've had to call a few times now and everyone I've spoken to has been friendly and helpful.

Mail is pretty slow!

Thats all I have for now but I will add more info as I find out about it.

Halo

[TheMoth]

Thank you! That’s upsetting that it can be difficult to get into education and rehabilitation. Do they offer any vocational training? We want to get as much time off by completing these milestones as possible, but my fiancé did not want to go to a 50/50 yard so it looks like he will be going to one of these CCFs or MCCFs. Don’t know which one yet!

[Halo527]

Originally Posted by TheMoth

Thank you! That’s upsetting that it can be difficult to get into education and rehabilitation. Do they offer any vocational training? We want to get as much time off by completing these milestones as possible, but my fiancé did not want to go to a 50/50 yard so it looks like he will be going to one of these CCFs or MCCFs. Don’t know which one yet!

Hi,


We have been unable to get him into any educational courses. They have about 50 spots with 640 prisoners. No vocational education. Rehabilitation is just like the educational courses, long waiting list. Jobs are in short demand also. I was hoping to get my son time off through the milestones, but I'm not sure that is a possibility now. What I am trying to do is to find out if he can take College Correspondence Courses that we can pay for. Apparently if you are at a CDCR facility, there is a list of schools that are eligible and you can get credits for taking the courses. However, the person at the Educational Dept was not sure how that would apply to the CCF's, so I have a letter into the person who is the head of the CCF's and also the Shafter Educational Director (he so far has not been very helpful). I will post again when I find out information.


Halo

[Halo527]

One more thing about Shafter is that it is not a Safe Needs Yard and no one who has that status has been integrated there. From what I've heard, Shafter & Taft are the only ones that not integrated at this time. Apparently, the integration is causing alot of problems, but Shafter has been pretty safe, although there are prison politics.


Halo

[TheMoth]

My fiance ended up at Califonria City, instead, and has also not been intergrated with SNY. Unfortunately the milestone opportunities are equally as scarce, it sounds like.

[Halo527]

Originally Posted by TheMoth

My fiance ended up at Califonria City, instead, and has also not been intergrated with SNY. Unfortunately the milestone opportunities are equally as scarce, it sounds like.

I am in the process of writing to the "officials" to see if he can do the correspondence courses which also get prop 57 credit (mainstream CDCR facilities allow this). Hopefully, I will find out something soon and will post it here.


Halo

[miamac]

Originally Posted by Halo527

I am in the process of writing to the "officials" to see if he can do the correspondence courses which also get prop 57 credit (mainstream CDCR facilities allow this). Hopefully, I will find out something soon and will post it here.

I'm glad you posted this because it got me digging. CDC has changed up their website and some items that were readily available no longer appear. One of those things was a Prop 57 document that listed every available program with those designated for CCF separated out. It was a roadmap for how credits were to be applied. Well, now it's gone. I'm going to keep looking but it's sketchy that it's no longer available.
What they do instead is list each facility and the programs 'available'. Two issues I have with that: first, it's a generic list that does not outline credits awarded for each program or whether it's a repeatable program, and second there are no CCFs listed. When I find Shafter, this is the sum of available info. Zip about programing.

I find this unacceptable. CCFs house CDC inmates. They should, in theory, be subjected to the same transparency.

Update:
Ok, so I dug deep and updated links in our other thread. Instead of leaving the relatively straight-forward program chart they had, they've changed it so you have to search by program to get the full info or by facility for the watered down version. To me, it's cumbersome, but it's there.

[Halo527]

Originally Posted by miamac

I'm glad you posted this because it got me digging. CDC has changed up their website and some items that were readily available no longer appear. One of those things was a Prop 57 document that listed every available program with those designated for CCF separated out. It was a roadmap for how credits were to be applied. Well, now it's gone. I'm going to keep looking but it's sketchy that it's no longer available.
What they do instead is list each facility and the programs 'available'. Two issues I have with that: first, it's a generic list that does not outline credits awarded for each program or whether it's a repeatable program, and second there are no CCFs listed. When I find Shafter, this is the sum of available info. Zip about programing.

I find this unacceptable. CCFs house CDC inmates. They should, in theory, be subjected to the same transparency.

Update:
Ok, so I dug deep and updated links in our other thread. Instead of leaving the relatively straight-forward program chart they had, they've changed it so you have to search by program to get the full info or by facility for the watered down version. Too me, it's cumbersome, but it's there.

My son did tell me that the credits were significant when you can get into the classes. He referenced one guy who took one class and got 4 weeks off for finishing it. I still haven't heard from the "officials". I'm going to follow up with a phone call next week. I may just go to the Commander or write to Ralph Hernandez directly. I'm not going to give up easily...


Halo

[Halo527]

So a bit more about what CDCR's website states about Secondary Education:


"Post-secondary education courses include college-level coursework offered to inmate-students through the Voluntary Education Program. The Division of Rehabilitative Program’s Office of Correctional Education, in collaboration with various community colleges and a partnership with the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, offers inmate-students opportunities to enroll in college courses that are nationally or regionally accredited in accordance with the United States Department of Education. Courses may be available via face-to-face instruction or correspondence coursework from accredited agencies. Currently, various community colleges provide face-to-face college courses in 34 institutions. These college courses are non-remedial and lead to a degree in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding established between the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the California Community College serving in that geographical location. During spring and fall semesters, the number of inmate-students enrolled in face-to-face college programs can reach or exceed 4,500 students on average.
College courses are also provided to inmate-students via correspondence program by 25+ different colleges. Throughout the year, over 7,000 inmate-students on average are enrolled in a correspondence college program.
Inmate-students are responsible for tuition, fees, textbooks, and materials associated with college course enrollment. Inmate-students may be eligible for a tuition fee waiver through the California College Promise Grant that covers tuition for every low-income student in the state’s community colleges, including those who are incarcerated.
Inmate-students may be eligible to earn Milestone Completion Credit(s) and Education Merit Credit in accordance with the California Code of Regulations Title 15."


I also found out this info on the CDCR website: "Post-secondary education is available at CDCR institutions with the exception of the California Health Care Facility, and Correspondence College exists at all 35 CDCR institutions".


Note that it does state the inmates are eligible for correspondence courses, but that CDCR does not cover the cost of them. When I spoke to the Educational Director at Shafter, he did tell me that my son could do these courses. He just has not supplied the list. So now I'm going to call the Educational Department to get the "list" and I'm just going to put the plan in motion myself, rather than waiting for him (this guy is totally worthless according to my son and I now feel the same way about him). Perhaps I should find out who his Supervisor is and call them directly...


Halo

[miamac]

Originally Posted by Halo527

Note that it does state the inmates are eligible for correspondence courses, but that CDCR does not cover the cost of them. When I spoke to the Educational Director at Shafter, he did tell me that my son could do these courses. He just has not supplied the list. So now I'm going to call the Educational Department to get the "list" and I'm just going to put the plan in motion myself, rather than waiting for him (this guy is totally worthless according to my son and I now feel the same way about him). Perhaps I should find out who his Supervisor is and call them directly...

My husband is an education clerk at Ironwood (a non-CCF). I can tell you how it works there, but I don't know how that translates to a private facility program.

Secondary education-- correspondence and in-person classes (of which there are about two a term for all inmates) are contracted through specific colleges. At our facility it's Palo Verde and (oh shoot, it went right out of my head. I'll update when I remember...ha!). Students enrolled in these courses are monitored by the education department. They are provided course listings, registration paperwork, syllabi, materials, and assignments through the education staff on site. Work is then submitted by mail for instructor grading after being recorded by staff on site (basically, a safety net for 'lost' work). Exams are proctored and submitted by institution staff. So even though the college is sponsoring the program, it's basically facility staff doing all the legwork.

My advice is to ask your son if the education department has an inmate clerk. They are usually far more approachable and able to get things done than the paid staff. Not knocking the staff (at our facility they're amazing), but they're stretched very thin. Clerks handle all the paperwork for registration and ducats for testing, ect., so they have the latest info. If he can tag one of those guys for help, he may get somewhere.