Weekender Digest: VR, a voice and veggies

March 21, 2025

In this Weekender Digest, we revisit stories of staff using virtual reality (VR) for rehabilitation, a psychologist finding his voice, and fresh veggies. This digest, a compilation of stories published throughout the week, is one more way we are trying to keep our employees informed.

Staff Highlights

My goal is to set them up for success and reduce barriers to reentry.

Meet Floyd McGregor, the singing senior psychologist

Floyd McGregor, a CDCR senior clinical psychologist specialist, turns to singing to find balance. “Your life can change in the blink of an eye, so you better have a song to sing,” he said. Read his story.

Folsom Recreation Therapist Robert Lombardi introduces VR

Folsom State Prison Recreation Therapist Robert Lombardi is using virtual reality (VR) to help incarcerated individuals. The VR system helps them manage stress, anxiety, and emotional health.

“(We use VR) with some of the population that suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, stress (and) anxiety,” Lombardi explained. “They don’t have great coping mechanisms.”

Learn more about Lombardi’s efforts in this story.

Bereaved father creates foundation

At the heart of the foundation is retired Sgt. Taylor Holmes who lost his son Joshua to cancer. Learn more about the foundation and their basketball tournament.

Safety & Security Updates

The Department recognizes incidents like this can be distressing. We care about your well-being and encourage you to prioritize your mental health. Wellness resources are available to support you during difficult times.

Public safety sweep at 11 prisons nets manufactured weapons, drugs, drug paraphernalia, and escape tools.

Public safety sweeps net weapons, contraband at 11 prisons

Through proactive enforcement sweeps at CDCR, staff have discovered multiple weapons, cellular devices, controlled substances, and various prohibited items in the past week and a half.

These additional searches began after CDCR initiated modified programming March 8, 2025, at 11 high-security locations. Read about the sweeps.

Officer injured in attack at CCI‑Tehachapi

A correctional officer at California Correctional Institution (CCI) was injured in an attack by an incarcerated person Thursday, March 20. The officer sustained minor injuries and was taken to an outside medical facility for further treatment. The officer was released later and is OK. Read the update.

Officer injured in attack at CSP-Sacramento

A correctional officer at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC), was injured in an attack by an incarcerated person on Monday, March 17. The officer sustained minor injuries and was taken an outside medical facility for further treatment. The officer was released later and is OK. Read the update.

Officer injured in attack at RJD Correctional Facility

A correctional officer at RJ Donovan (RJD) Correctional Facility was injured in an attack by an incarcerated person over the weekend. The attack happened Sunday morning, March 16. An officer attempted to deescalate an argument between incarcerated individuals when one of the individuals hit the officer several times before being apprehended. The correctional officer suffered bodily injuries and was taken to an outside medical facility for further treatment. The officer was released later and is OK. Read the update.

Community Involvement

VSP gets into Special Olympics Polar Plunge

Valley State Prison (VSP) in Chowchilla got into the Polar Plunge to raise funds for Special Olympics.

Timothy Shriver, grandson of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was even on hand for the event. He is one of the organization’s board members.

“My grandmother founded Special Olympics as a camp in her backyard a little over 60 years ago (because) her sister has an intellectual disability,” Shriver said. “There were no opportunities for her. No schools, no sports, no programs. In those days, people with intellectual disabilities lived in institutions so she would bus in folks of all ages (from those) institutions to be dropped off in the backyard.”

Read the full story.

Obituaries

Ty Roberts, retired correctional sergeant, passed away march 13, 2025. — Ty Roberts

Anne Jackson, retired administrator, obituary image. She passed away Dec. 24, 2024. — Ty Roberts

Tributes to staff, retirees who’ve passed away

Recent obituaries, from left:

Ty Roberts, a retired correctional sergeant, passed away March 13. Funeral details are not yet available. He began his career with the department in 1996 as a correctional officer at California Correctional Institution at Tehachapi. He retired in 2017.
Anne Elizabeth Jackson, a retired prison health care administrator, passed away Dec. 24, 2024. She retired in 2022 after working for the department for 30 years. “Anne was generous and kind to everyone who knew her,” her family said. “She will be missed more than words can express.”
Ismael Garcia, a California Prison Industry Authority custodian at Avenal State Prison, passed away Feb. 26. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, three children, seven grandchildren, a brother and sister. Funeral services were held earlier this week.
Joseph Robichaud, a retired correctional sergeant who worked for CDCR for over two decades, passed away March 9. He retired in 2017. Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 5, at 11 a.m., at the Church of God of Carmichael, 5334 Whitney Ave., Carmichael.

Read the obituary section.

Rehabilitation

Group of CAL FIRE employees and Gabilan camp commander held a discussion about how to get a job with CAL FIRE.

Gabilan camp learns about getting CAL FIRE job

Those serving sentences at Gabilan Conservation Camp 38 learned how to get a job with CAL FIRE when they are released. Read the story sent by Camp Commander Lt. Nilsson.

CCWF farmers market offers veggies with fresh sense of hope

What started as a modest farmers market in September 2024 has blossomed into a thriving collaboration involving Land Together, California Resource Corporation, and the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). Read the story.

Week in Review

Week in Review: March 21, 2025

In this Week in Review for March 21, we spotlight a parole agent’s dedication to rehabilitation, follow Chief El-Menshawi at a victims’ rights symposium, and celebrate Sgt. Sepulveda’s victory as the new ASP Chili Cook-Off King. Read the Week in Review.

Weekender Digest is compiled by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Office of Public and Employee Communications

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