What’s New?
Getting a flu vaccine is an easy step to protect yourself and your community from flu.
CDCR’s seasonal influenza (flu) offering began in September 2022 and is free of cost for CDCR and CCHCS. As we approach the fall and winter months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises the importance of getting a seasonal flu shot. While seasonal influenza viruses are detected year-round in the United States, they are most common during fall and winter. Flu activity often begins to increase in October. Most of the time, flu activity peaks between December and February, although significant activity can last as late as May.
Resources:
Staff Resources
ELECTION DAY EMPLOYEE TIME OFF –NOVEMBER 8, 2022
CDCR and CCHCS personnel are reminded of the requirements for taking time off on Election Day to vote and/or serve as a precinct election board member (poll worker) in the November 8, 2022 statewide election.
Memo: 2022 Election Day Employee Time Off – November 8, 2022
CCJBH News
CCJBH Full Council Meeting
When: October 28, 2022, from 2:00-4:30 PM
Where: Virtual via Zoom
Description: The Full Council Meeting will highlight current investments in housing. The California Interagency Council on Homelessness will provide an update on their projects and the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership will present on their efforts to assist individuals reentering into the community with housing supports.
The agenda will be posted to the CCJBH website by October 18, 2022.
In our Institutions
CTF Trauma-Responsive Training for Staff
The Compassion Prison Project sponsored a number of events in the Correctional Training Facility from September 26th to September 30th, 2022. (CTF). The Compassion Prison Project was invited to CTF to give services to staff and the incarcerated population as part of their objective to create trauma-informed prisons and communities. Everyone who took part was taught the fundamentals of what trauma does to the brain, body, and spirit.
The eight-part Correctional Officer Trauma-Responsive Training (COTRT) focused on educating officers about the effects of trauma on their mental, physical, and emotional health. With the average life expectancy of Correctional Officers being 59 years old, the event emphasized health and well-being models and self-care practices.
DRP Laptop Training at SVSP
On Thursday, October 6, 2022, DRP Office of Correctional Education (OCE) will provided direct laptop training support to 33 of our college students in the SVSP Facility A gymnasium. When the school expanded to all four gyms in March 2022, it was a momentous occasion.
Dr. Lynne Ruvalcaba of OCE responded to the school’s technical needs at SVSP and for providing additional laptop training while our face-to-face college enrollment has nearly doubled.
ASP Staff Resource Fair
Avenal State Prison (ASP) held an Open Enrollment Health & Wellness Fair on October 14. The event provided an opportunity for workers to learn about their open-enrollment options, learn about the Our Promise Campaign, and meet and interact with exhibitors who offered a variety of goods and services that encourage not only physical health but also mental and financial well. CCPOA, United Healthcare, Aflac, Butler’s Uniform, Savings Plus, Kaiser Permanente, The Sweet Crumb, The Cupcake Route, and Keanu’s Hawaiian BBQ representatives.
In the Media
Incarcerated firefighters come to primetime
The Monterey Bay area is home to two CDCR fire camps. In Santa Cruz County the Ben Lomond Conservation Camp houses 40 incarcerated people who were mostly trained at a state facility in Susanville.
The other, called the Gabilan Conservation Camp, is in South Monterey County, next to the two state prisons in Soledad. Another 54 incarcerated people work there as firefighters and support staff. Both camps are designed to hold double their current occupancy.
The crews don’t just fight fires and clear brush: the Gabilan firefighters, for example, have done habitat restoration in Monterey, Del Rey Oaks and the Marina sand dunes. They worked on flood control and clearing non-native vegetation from waterways in Carmel. And in local state parks, they’ve restored historic buildings and cleared hiking trails.
Top Inside CDCR Stories for the Week
- CDCR lieutenant shapes future as head coach
- Former Director James Gomez passes away at 73
- Tales from the Cemetery: Dove and Love
- Pleasant Valley firefighters rescue kitten
- CDCR takes home three technology awards
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