VSP is a Level II facility which houses Sensitive Needs Yard inmates. The housing consists of open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed coverage. As of April 30, 2020, VSP was incarcerating people at 150.1% of its design capacity, with 2,971 occupants, making it the most over-capacity state prison in California.
History
The prison opened in April 1995. In 1996, the City of Chowchilla was given permission to perform a non-contiguous annexation of VSPW. Ted Koppel interviewed many staff, including Dr. Anthony DiDomenico, the chief medical officer of VSPW, in October 1999 for series of episodes of Nightline. In the expose, the physician was quoted as saying "I've heard inmates tell me that they would deliberately like to be examined . It's the only male contact they get." After the airing of the Nightline episode, only DiDomenico was reassigned "to a desk job in Sacramento" for his description. An October 2000 California state legislative committee hearing on female inmates' medical issues was held at VSPW. At the hearing, approximately 15 inmates "described grave medical problems" at VSPW and Central California Women's Facility; however, the physician representing the California Department of Corrections stated that she felt the female inmates "were getting the best care possible." Starting in April 2007, VSPW received some inmates from California Rehabilitation Center after closure of the women's wing at that prison. The population at VSPW "swelled by 8 percent"; furthermore, "the court-appointed overseer of prison medical care" stated that VSPW's medical system might "collapse entirely" due to the extra prisoners.
Inmate programs
Budget cuts in 2009 "drastically reduced the number of academic, vocational, and SAP assignments". The rate of recidivism at VSPW is approximately 72%. There are numerous Self-Help programs for inmates ranging from 12-step inmate facilitated groups such as Alcoholic Anonymous, Battered Women, Domestic Violence, and Narcotics Anonymous. In addition to inmate-facilitated self-help programs, outside volunteer groups also conduct classes and workshops, some of which have been featured in national and international media. Crossroads allow at-risk youth to visit VSPW facilities and hear from volunteer inmates about life in prison. This program was featured in an episode on Arts and Entertainment Television Network called "Beyond Scared Straight". Freedom to Choose is an all volunteer service project of the University of Santa Monica that has been teaching decriminogenic life skills and forgiveness workshops at VSPW twice a year since March 2004, and was featured in a documentary that was awarded Best Documentary at the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase, American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
Conversion to male institution
The CDCR began converting the prison into a facility for low-risk male inmates in 2012. The conversion was completed in January 2013, with the last female inmates in the facility transferred to the nearby Central California Women's Facility and California Institution for Women in Chino, San Bernardino County, California. Some inmates nearing the end of their sentence have been transferred to various county jails.
