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srwright66 · #1 05-13-2007, 12:37 PM

I just got off the phone with Hubby. He has 2 weeks left in the Cheyenne Center HWH. He was calling me from the hospital. Seems everyone was exposed to TB. His roommate does have TB. Several are now quarantined, the roommate is one of them that has been quarantined. He said they discharged a few people early due to this. He didn't have all the details but said he would call when they got through at the hospital. He told me to stay close to a phone and be on standby to come get him.

After all we have been through and now this. This place has been a nightmare since day 1. If this is considered to be one of the better HWH, I would be horrified to see how the other HWH's are run. The staff are unprofessional, clueless, and rude. The place is disgusting. The continueing "treatment" is a joke. Not only do they play head games with the people there, they play head games with the families.

Ashagirl · #2 05-13-2007, 05:39 PM

I am sorry to hear about that most certainly.

Here's a recent link to a thread that might be of some interest to you:

www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267099

srwright66 · #3 05-14-2007, 09:34 PM

I spoke with hubby. I need to clarify some of it. The guys in quarantine are being quarantined because they have scabies. 11 have been released early to go home and take care of it. When it is all cleared up they have to come back to finish their time in the HWH. Hubby has to go back to the doctor Wednesday, they want X-ray his lungs. He developed a cough that won't go away. Doctor thinks he may have had pneumonia. For the last week all they have given him was 4 aspirins. They were mad because his meds cost $150 +$80 for the doctor. They told him they didn't send him there for that they only told him to get checked for TB, not anything else.

ParoledIn98 · #4 05-15-2007, 02:26 AM

wow, that's sad. Sounds to me like they could care less. If they don't wanna treat him then they should also send him home where he can get the treatment he so needs. I am sorry that you all are going thru this crap.

Bill

mamajmg · #5 05-15-2007, 07:50 AM

I am very familiar with the Cheyenne Center - my son was released from the faciloity April 3rd. Actually, I stopped by there the other day. Your husband must've arrived around the time the CC moved to their current location.

Yes, they have been quarantined for scabies. I think anytime you have that many people coming and going and in close quarters it can and probably will expose you to alot of germs/bacteria's, etc.. But they are addressing it. In regardes to the medication your husband is receiveing from the CC - that is all they are permitted to provide to the client without a prescription from the doctor. Anything more may be detected in the ua's (they claim) and the client will be in deep poop! When my son was sick they allowed me to bring up different medications - they made note of them in his file - no problem. I also took him to the doctor - provided copy of the prescription along with the meds - no problem.

Since the CC moved from it's original location where my son first arrived - it has changed in some ways. I think it's "merging" pains. The front of the facility houses/counsels "private" clients while the back are safp clients. Part of the biggest problem that I'm hearing about is that the front end clients are also "drop-ins" and come and go often and pretty much at will. This has made a huge increase in problems as so many are bringing back in drugs. When the front end gets in trouble - the back end clients get lock down. Their weekend passes have been pulled for the past three or four weekends. The front end is not CC, I don't believe, only the back end but it is also for addiction counseling and offers outpatient AA / NA / CA counseling.

I've attended family groups and spoken to the CC counselors as wanted or needed. It's pretty much the safp, behavior modification, accountability approach. Not that I agree with all of it but I worked hard at understanding the concepts and purposes behind things so I could help my son thru and grow from his journey there.

srwright66 · #6 05-15-2007, 09:29 PM

Mamajmg,
You are correct, the week he arrived they were moving to the new place. He really liked safp. He wished he could have gone through safp years ago. He learned a lot from safp but he says CC is teaching him to hate people. He has never said that before about people. He has always been a people person. They are causing him to be very bitter. I understand why. He said CC has contacted TDCJ, it seems the sick people have been arriving from the Kyle unit. He did say they are trying to approach things like safp but it is not working for CC. The rules constantly change, no one has clue what is going on and there is no consistancy. It may have been better at the other place but someone dropped the ball when they moved to the new place, which is by no means new, it is an old run down motel type of place. I have only been in the front lobby and the visitation room. It's disgusting. I wish there was some other alternative. I personally would like to see the place shut down.

mamajmg · #7 05-16-2007, 07:01 AM

I had to grin with your hubby's comment about becoming bitter towards some people! I've heard that before and it's not hard to figure out why! lol Because of some things that we are dealing with my son and I have had continued contact with CC and the attitude towards him/me are so obviously different and sincere! lol But my husband and I have overheard some profanity and in your face yelling during my sons stay at CC. I'm going to leave the rest of the understanding of the "bitterness" unsaid. Just know that I understand.

Yes, the facility is an old Holiday Inn. But believe me compared to the other facility it's in much better condition. The rooms at the other unit also housed four men but were larger as it was an old apt complex. The furniture is mostly old and donated but the kitchen area's are kept clean and up to health dept standards. The guys are responsible for the cleanliness of their own living space. I know when my son was there they did room inspections. I had picked him up his own stuff to keep his space clean and he washed his bedding weekly and sprayed febreeze on the mattress. That's about all he could do.

Honestly, I truly think it's merging pains. They've only merged less than three months ago. I spoke to a young man who arrived around the same time as your hubby recently and he said that they (the clients) and the counselors have had some communication in working some things out as the ones who are complying are getting more penalties than those messing up with the program. I certainly hope they are able to get it together soon because CC wasn't a bad h/way house as far as h/ways go! And so much better than so many of the horror stories of others I've read.

So, how's your husband doing?

Janice

srwright66 · #8 05-16-2007, 11:13 PM

He is doing pretty good considering all that is going on in that place. He is hanging on to what he learned in safp and trying his best to block the BS of the HWH. I spoke with one of the counselors today. I told her that I don't believe in the games they are playing with people there. As you said the ones that are doing right are getting more punishment. Hubby goes to work, follows all the rules, has not broken any rules, but because other people are screwing up, the guys that are doing right are being punished.

Since he has been there 24 people have went "awol" or come back "dirty". They were put on lock down a few weeks back over some guy walking out, when asked why they were being punished, they were told they should have stopped this guy from wanting to leave. How does this help them in the real world? Example: another thread in this forum talks about how to stay clean, I could talk till I'm blue in the face but if this person goes out tomorrow, does dope and kills someone, should I be charged with murder? Because I couldn't stop them from doing dope? What coping skills does that teach me?

She told me they are being punished for the things they did before they went to jail, WRONG! They did their time in county & safp. It is not the HWH's purpose to punish them for their prior actions, it is there purpose to reintigrate them into society.

She also told me thay are trying teach them accountability, ok thats fine. You can hold me accountable for my actions, but there is no way I will allow someone to hold me accountable for anyone else's actions.

They need to get their act together. Three months is way too long for this to continue whether its merging pains or not. They are doing far more damage than good. I would rather safp take 3 months longer and the people go to a immediately into after care that through the HWH.

As soon as hubby is released, I will be talking to senators and congressmen. I am in Austin several times a month and meet with these people on other issues. I have not said anything to them yet as I didn't want hubby to suffer any retaliation. This needs to be restructured in some way.

I appreciate you listening to me vent.

How is your son doing?

mamajmg · #9 05-17-2007, 05:10 PM

My son is doing wonderful! Thank you! As much as I hate that he's gone thru so much with safp/halfway house - he's great and that is the end purpose of it all. If he hadn't gone thru it he wouldn't be clean and sober or planning and praying to live his life that way.

I spoke to another CC young man today. He said that yes, the scabie outbreak is bad and probably close to thirty have been affected. Family visits and weekend passes have been cancelled again this coming weekend. He's very frustrated as he only has about two weeks left and hasn't had a weekend pass or visit in at least a month! Evidently the health department is involved and even the employees are scared as he**!! Those who do not have scabies are not being released early and the ones who have it are to return to finish out their time.

If you think about it - this can't be limited to this h/way house if it's coming out of the Kyle unit. I'll bet the county facilities are sure ticked at the state facility!!!

Regarding the awol or continued drug abusers - it would've happened no matter what h/way house they were sent to. Don't you think? All are given the same program and tools for sobriety. Mentally you must be prepared to want it or just be putting in their time. It makes me sad because the first time my son told me that so and so took off I knew that someone's mother was crying. Ok, so I'm a mush!!

How's your husband. Did he get the x-rays Wednesday?

Janice

srwright66 · #10 05-17-2007, 06:54 PM

His x-rays turned out ok....for now. I think the TB stuff probably came from the Kyle unit,hubby's roommate was probably a carrier that finally progressed. But I almost bet that the scabies was brought back from someone on a weekend visit. The scabies spread too quickly to have come from a prison unit. The scabies started a little over a week ago and 30 people already have it. It would seem the whole Kyle unit would have been infected in a months time. I heard the CC employees are scared of catching it, they are giving TDCJ hell over it. They are gonna have hell getting rid of it. If someone doesn't completely get rid of it, another outbreak will start all over. The mites get in the clothing and bedding.

HisWifey4304 · #11 05-18-2007, 09:03 AM

That is so scary!!! Why cant they just send our loved ones home. Instead of the halfway house!!