Notice to new members intending to register - from January 9th 2012

GingerM · #1 03-31-2012, 10:16 PM

My dad ended up being sent to OSCI after intake. He's in a dorm style room with 60 beds - it's the medical unit (not infirmary) for people with chronic medical conditions. My dad referred to it as the "geriatric ward." He said he was happy to be there, so I guess that's a good thing, and that he felt safe, which is the most important thing.

That he's within an hour's drive is very nice, I must admit. But I still worry.

When does the worrying stop?

Scott · #2 03-31-2012, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerM

My dad ended up being sent to OSCI after intake. He's in a dorm style room with 60 beds - it's the medical unit (not infirmary) for people with chronic medical conditions. My dad referred to it as the "geriatric ward." He said he was happy to be there, so I guess that's a good thing, and that he felt safe, which is the most important thing.

That he's within an hour's drive is very nice, I must admit. But I still worry.

When does the worrying stop?

That's Unit 13 - I spent a couple of months there when I was having some cancer treatments. There was a blind guy in the unit who had been there for close to twenty years. It's a little ratty; broken windows, chilly in the winter, but definitely safe, as long as he doesn't get run over by a wheel chair. The chow hall is a pit at OSCI too... but there are tons of things to do there. I only have two close friends at OSCI but both of them are brilliant, funny and creative. He'll be fine.

If worrying works for you - don't feel a need to stop. If not, move on to something more productive.

GingerM · #3 04-01-2012, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott

That's Unit 13 - I spent a couple of months there when I was having some cancer treatments. There was a blind guy in the unit who had been there for close to twenty years. It's a little ratty; broken windows, chilly in the winter, but definitely safe, as long as he doesn't get run over by a wheel chair. The chow hall is a pit at OSCI too... but there are tons of things to do there. I only have two close friends at OSCI but both of them are brilliant, funny and creative. He'll be fine.

If worrying works for you - don't feel a need to stop. If not, move on to something more productive.

Thanks Scott! Yes, he's in Unit 13. I figured it wouldn't exactly be the Hilton given the age of the building, but really? Broken windows? Jeez. [now bypassing a rant about voting to send more people to prison while voting to not maintain or build modern buildings to house all the new prisoners in]

Glad to hear there are a lot of things for him to do. The more he stays busy, the happier he'll be.

Worrying doesn't really work that well for me, to be honest. I do much better with action. Having someone who has been there tell me that it's safe (and not because he's in the hole) makes me feel much better. I just want him to outlive his sentence. I'm sure that the worrying will decrease dramatically once I can see him in person to see how he looks. The worry level dropped by a large percentage when I first spoke with him by phone and he said that they were letting him manage his own meds (unlike county, where the medicals were trying to manage it for him, and taking him from nearly lethal high to nearly lethal low doses). The worrying dropped again yesterday when he said he was thrilled to be in a dorm style unit since there were no cells and he didn't get stuck with "some young stud with something to prove" as a cellmate.

Can you give me a description of what the "dorm" looks like? Is there any privacy at all - the picture I have is more like summer camp - a zillion beds, no privacy at all between the beds (no curtains or half walls), no tables near the beds. My mental picture comes from too many 1940's movies - the logical part of my brain can't see that being real. Does he have the ability to move around the rest of the prison (like "out" time)? When I spoke to him yesterday, he hadn't even been there 24 hours yet, so he said there was no "out" time because there were no cells in his unit. But they have to let him out to use the library/chaplain etc, right? I'm just trying to put together a mental image of what he has available.

Still - I'm very happy he's safe, and I'm grateful that he feels that he's safe. His experience may be less stressful for him being around people closer to his age (he described the population in his unit as "me and a bunch of old geezers").

Scott · #4 04-01-2012, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerM

Thanks Scott! Yes, he's in Unit 13. I figured it wouldn't exactly be the Hilton given the age of the building, but really? Broken windows? Jeez. [now bypassing a rant about voting to send more people to prison while voting to not maintain or build modern buildings to house all the new prisoners in]

Remember if it were up to the "general public" everyone would be on bread and water (assuming they just didn't shoot them first) and heat would be an option. Building maintenance isn't high on anyone's list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerM

...The worrying dropped again yesterday when he said he was thrilled to be in a dorm style unit since there were no cells and he didn't get stuck with "some young stud with something to prove" as a cellmate.

How true that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerM

...My mental picture comes from too many 1940's movies - the logical part of my brain can't see that being real. Does he have the ability to move around the rest of the prison (like "out" time)? When I spoke to him yesterday, he hadn't even been there 24 hours yet, so he said there was no "out" time because there were no cells in his unit. But they have to let him out to use the library/chaplain etc, right? I'm just trying to put together a mental image of what he has available.

He can move freely about the unit, which is pretty much how you pictured it, although there are little tables between each bunk. No privacy. The officers at OSCI are, for the most part, pretty mellow. It's one of the few places where I really don't know any staff personally. And there are "yard times" each day, as well as a variety of programs (even a crocheting group) that he can sign up for. So, all in all he could be at a lot worse places. When I saw where he landed, I was pleasantly surprised and really hadn't thought of that as a potential spot - but in retrospect it makes some sense.

GingerM · #5 04-01-2012, 12:31 PM

Quote:

When I saw where he landed, I was pleasantly surprised and really hadn't thought of that as a potential spot - but in retrospect it makes some sense.

See? One more step down on the worry-meter. That you were pleasantly surprised is a Good Thing. I agree that it makes sense - actually it makes a lot of sense to me. I didn't even know such a place existed, but I'm glad that it does, and it does make sense both for him and that DOC has such a unit. After all, my dad can't be the only one inside who needs medical monitoring for a chronic condition without needing to be in an infirmary.

Quote:

Remember if it were up to the "general public" everyone would be on bread and water (assuming they just didn't shoot them first) and heat would be an option. Building maintenance isn't high on anyone's list.

Unfortunately, no, maintenance is not high on the public's list or anyone else's give our current state budget. Heck, even schools, the one place that one would think the voters would want to put some money, are so short-funded that it's not funny. When I graduated from college, I had a teaching certificate and couldn't find a job. Now, in hindsight, I'm really glad I didn't go into teaching (although I think I would have been a great teacher) - the politics and backbiting over scarce resources is just awful. I'm better off where I am, even if it isn't where I thought I'd be. Between voters and politicians, it seems our priorities are all messed up, but all I can do is vote and write and hope.

Then again, as an avid history buff, we've still come a long way socially, even from 100 years ago or 50 years ago, so I suppose that overall, we're moving in the right direction.

Zelda50 · #6 04-06-2012, 11:30 PM

Seems like, from what I've heard, there are a lot more privileges for inmates at OSCI than at most of the other facilities. It seems to be one of the prisons where the DOC sends men to keep them "safe" or who've been cooperative with the DOC. I could be wrong but that's just what I've "heard."

dalesgirl · #7 05-04-2012, 08:18 AM

Scott, sadly the crochet program is all but stopped. They lost the volunteer. I know who the blind guy was, my guy used to read and write letters for him, or
I would assume its the same guy.
HInt for visiting. OSCI just turned off the heat and its cold! Wear a sweater or something over your top.

GingerM · #8 05-04-2012, 12:43 PM

Last week I wore a fleece long sleeved turtleneck and was still kind of chilled. I assume it's nice and hot in the summer if this is what it's like now...

Southmeadow · #9 05-30-2012, 09:43 PM

I just found out that my brother got moved to OSCI yesterday. He is handicapped and has some medical and physical problems. I think that he is in the dorm area as well. We were told by his counselor at coffee creek that he was going to be kept in an area where they house people with medical and other issues, so I am thinking that he must be in the same place as your dad! Hoping to find out some more info and get a local phone number figured out right away!

GingerM · #10 05-31-2012, 06:24 AM

I'm certain he'll be in the same dorm as my dad then. That's the only place they have for handicapped people at OSCI. My dad really likes the facility (well, as prisons go). He likes the space, he likes being able to move around, he likes the feeling of not being "locked up" since the room is pretty big.

What info are you looking for?

Southmeadow · #11 05-31-2012, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerM

I'm certain he'll be in the same dorm as my dad then. That's the only place they have for handicapped people at OSCI. My dad really likes the facility (well, as prisons go). He likes the space, he likes being able to move around, he likes the feeling of not being "locked up" since the room is pretty big.

What info are you looking for?

Well, I think that I am on the right track for info. It is just overwhelming! While he was at coffee creek we sent money into VAC to set up his phone debit account, and also added money to his inmate trust account.
My brother has yet to use the regular phone so I don't know if the debit account is ready yet, but I am now working on figuring out the local number issue. It was really cool because my brother's counselor at coffee creek let him call my mom a couple times from her office. That made a huge difference for all of us!
What are you doing for phone calls? I am thinking about trying Google Voice.
I printed the visitation forms and am working on getting those filled out and hoping to send them in right away.
Is there anything that you can think of that I am missing?
Thanks so much for your help! Just knowing that other people are going through this process as well if comforting.

GingerM · #12 05-31-2012, 08:44 PM

The process itself is emotionally grueling. It sounds like you're on the right track.

If you got the visitation forms from the internet, look at the bottom of them and you can see where you can email them back (there's a MSWord version of the application that you can simply save on your computer and send in as an attachment).

My dad calls my mom far more often than he calls me. For my mom, we got her a little phone and added it to our family plan for $10/month. For me, I just got a pay-as-you-go phone. My dad was terrified of getting caught using google voice, so to calm his fears, we went with second phones and a Salem number for each of them.

Since we already have the phones, it seems kind of silly to bother with google voice for us, but I hear that most people, as long as they set it up with no call forwarding/messages/voicemail, have really good luck with it. The new system that will come online July 1 allows google voice, so in less than a month, it will be within the technical rules to use it. If I were in your shoes, I'd got with gVoice.

Things to think of: did your brother leave anyone with a power of attorney for him? And since he's handicapped, he's definitely going to want someone on the outside to be able to be a medical liaison for him, so he'll need to sign a HIPPA form (he can ask for one from medical) to either you or your mom. My dad signed one for "serious illness", but I think for your brother it would be best if he sign one for "all medical issues". That way whoever he signs it to can call the doc and get information directly from and to the medical staff there.

I don't know about what kind of credit concerns your brother has, but if he still has a functional credit card in his name, you'll want to use it somehow. It's great for autobill or online ordering - just make sure you pay the bill! Depending on how long he's in there for, if no credit is generated for too long a period, he'll go "credit dead" and have difficulty getting credit cards or loans when he gets out. If you have a credit card in your name, you can often add him as a secondary cardholder and use his card for something small each month just to keep his credit alive.

His commissary account can be funded via snail mail or jpay. I use jpay because it's so much easier and faster online. I figure the surcharge is probably about the same as the gas I would have spent in getting a money order and going to the post office. He probably won't need too much money, and you really don't want to give him too much money at first or he could become a target for extortion. $100 in his account, tops, especially at first.

The phone accounts are set up through a totally different system, so unless he tells people how much money he has in that account, there's no way for people to know.

And then there's visitation. In the visitation forum, there's a post started by me that you might want to read about visitation. Dalesgurl was nice enough to give me a walk-through of what to expect, and it was tremendously helpful!

You're not alone in this. All of us on the outside worry about those on the inside, and the system is very overwhelming at first. I promise you'll eventually get it all figured out!

Zelda50 · #13 06-02-2012, 02:57 PM

The DOC is changing their contracted phone system on July 1st and phone accounts can be set up with Telemart after June 15th. The rates will be the same for local and long distance, so don't bother setting up a local number. And don't put more money than you need on the VAC account. They "say" the leftover funds on the VAC account will be transferred to Telemart but no word on how long that will take.