FraserValley Institution
Regional Advocacy Report, November, 2012
CAEFS advocacy at Fraser Valley Institution is carried out by a team of three; Mollie Both, Louise Richards and Kathi Heim, at least two of whom attend each month.
Our present capacity is 97. That is:
9 six person houses54
2 eight person houses16
SLE, 4 each side 8
Max Unit19
Present population is 84.
The Max unit has 2 five person pods with 5 of the units prepared for double-bunking; and the segregation unit houses 4. There are presently no women double-bunked, nor has FVI had any instance of women being housed in the gym, the PFV, or anywhere but the designated housing.
Three new 6 bed houses are ready, but will not always be fully occupied as one will be the Mother/Child house, and another reserved for women with special needs.
House #9 is now designated an “Intensive Support House”. It is intended to meet the needs of low functioning high needs women who need more structure than SLE but less than the Max Unit. It will be staffed by Behavioral Counselors, supported by two Psychologists. Alison Granger-Brown is the Recreational Therapist, and Occupational Therapy will be added.
Ground has been broken for the new Minimum House outside of the security fence, and the Warden has advised the following:
- Women in the house will be as autonomous as possible
- There will be two stories, each accommodating 20 women
- Two stoves for every 10 women
- Current proposed date of completion is April of 2013, with a possibility of the first 20 women moving in earlier
- Visiting area in the building
- Programming area within the building
- Health care vestibule
- Mother/child room
There will be two dedicated Primary Workers, one Parole Officer and program staff as needed. Preference will be given to women closest to release, and emphasis will be given to Work Releases and UTA’s.
Construction has begun on an addition to the SLE (Structured Living Environment).
Committees Operating:
Lifer’s Committee
Sisterhood
Inmate Committee
Peer Mentors (1 of the 5 trained members remaining)
The committees work together on large events.
Program Advisory Council
This council has been in existence since the jail was opened in 2004, and is made up of one-third CSC, one-third federally sentenced women and one-third community members. We are in the process of bringing the Terms of Reference up to date.
Human Rights in Action
Led by Christine Lamont, the group meets the third Tuesday of each month from 7 to 9pm.. The HRIA Collective is open to all prisoners currently incarcerated at FVI, those who have been released and other women in the community who support the aims of the project. Our main focus presently is overcoming the systemic obstacles to all kinds of releases (ETAs, UTAs, work releases, day parole and full parole) by the women’s eligibility dates. One evening a month help is provided in filling out housing forms.
CAEFS regional advocates are part of this group, and we share information and go to Max together when possible.
Aboriginal Spirituality
The sweat lodge for the Max Unit is now completed. The fence around the existing exercise area was gated and extended to accommodate it, and it is actually bigger than we had anticipated. The Culture Room is again open.
Current Issues:
Health/Medical Issues
There are now three Psychologists, one Psychiatric Nurse, one Psychiatric Assistant and one Clinical Social Worker serving FVI, but women are still expressing concerns about their difficulties in accessing psychological and emotional support. We do not support the reality that women who are not deemed to meet the criteria for services from the psychiatrist or psychologist and are not in need of the program through the Structured Living Environment, do not receive any services. If the needs of the women cannot be accommodated in FVI, we are of the view that the women must be provided with access to resources in the community.
There have been fewer complaints about the delivery of health care services, but dispensing of medication still poses problems.
Max and SLE
There are presently two women in Segregation. We can visit with them only through the glass, and only if the woman asks to see us, although we know of a time when at least one woman wanted to meet with us and was not told we were there. They are having no trouble getting through to us by phone, although the time on the call is sometimes limited.
We are not able to meet with the women in the living areas (pods) of the maximum security unit.
The reason given is ‘invasion of privacy”. We now meet in the hobby room or one of the other small rooms, and meet only with women who have asked to see us.
On a few occasions there has been a need for more max beds than were available (10), and there was an “overflow” system used whereby a woman would sleep in the segregation unit and be in one of the pods during the day. The arrangement was not used for extended periods of time as there are potential problems such as insufficient space in the refrigerators for food over the weekend.
Food Services: Women have not expressed concern about their food allowance, but there are now restrictions on ordering in prepared food. Currently food may not be ordered or brought in from a “fast food” chain, but only from grocery stores. Historically, it has been a treat for the women to order Chinese food or McDonald’s for a special event. We have asked for a written policy, and were informed that there is not yet anything in writing. We will be following up on this.
Jobs: There are no longer sufficient jobs for all the women in the jail. There is now a “labour ready” system set up in which women who do not have a job are to show up between 8:30 and 8:45 am and then again between 12:30 – 12:45. If there is a job, the woman is assigned to it and if not she receives $1.25 for showing up. We asked about plans for increasing employment options for women at FVI.
Pay: The new restrictions on the amount of income a woman can earn is making it very difficult for them to save enough money to purchase items they need and to provide assistance to their families. The Deputy Warden indicated that the Prisoners’ Committee made the suggestions for the way in which the pay would be changed, however, we recognize that the women did not have a say in the change of policy, so object to any issues with respect to the issues of limited income being in any manner characterized as their decisions.
Private Family Visits: The Warden had advised us that they were working on developing a policy that would permit the donation of “excess” unopened packaged food to a Food Bank. We have not yet received this, or a list of “approved items” which we also requested.
ETA’s and UTA’s: The women are concerned with the very limited opportunities for ETAs and UTAs. We share these concerns.
Staff/Prisoner Relations
There continues to be concern about male guards conducting the visual night checks during curfew. Unfortunately, the women are reluctant to use the grievance system.
Increase in Prison Population
The count, which until the winter of 2011 was in the mid sixties has now stabilized in the mid eighties. The Warden explained that this was caused mainly by overflow from EIFW and GVI.
Out of Province Women
There is a concern that women from other regions will be released into the community close to where they are serving their sentences. We asked what CSC sees as their obligation in legislation or policy, to return women to their home regions at their time of release, when they have been transferred to another region at the instigation of CSC. The reply was “Thus far, all transfers from other regions have been on a voluntary basis. Any transfers back to their home region(s) would be done on a case-by-case basis but access to home community and community support is a high priority.”
New Program Continuum/Correctional Plans
We continue to ask about women going up for parole without completing the programs cited on their old correctional plans. The Warden advised that the A4D (Assessment for Decision) which the Parole Board always sees will contain the information needed: i.e. which new program replaces the older one which is still shown on the correctional plan.
Submitted by CAEFS Regional Advocates
Mollie Both, Louise Richards and Kathi Heim
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