Missouri Prison Reform received the following message from a resident of a Missouri Department of Corrections women’s facility.
I asked some women what their concerns were. Here are a few. Medical, Women that have chronic issues or being without their medication for weeks and even months this has been going on since I arrived here in 2020.Heart conditions, blood pressure, stomach problems, thyroids issue. Eye problems that needs to be treated outside,this is just a few. Some women that need surgery health is declining due to them not being taken out in time. permanent injuries have resulted from delay. Centurion Medical is the worse I have seen since my stay in DOC. Mental Health is another issue, if u don’t take psychiatric medication,u don’t have access to a therapist or counselor. IRR:Informal Resolution Request,if u file a complaint in the time frame and if the complaint is lengthy,some how gets lost. Dental is another department that has not met the need to assist with teeth problems. u are placed on a waiting list for a year or longer. Mail was taken out of the prison to see if that would stop the drugs from entering into the prison. This was not the source of how they were coming in,drugs are a major problem in here, women are over dosing and one has died and what they say(DOC)is from natural causes,all lies. Missouri is one of only_states that have a Parole Board. The problem with a Parole Board, is extreme Bias and subjectivity. They make 80k+/year and are given these positions as a political “favor” after retiring from law enforcement positions (good old boys network).There are no defense attorneys, citizens, formerly incarcerated individuals, religious leaders, etc. on the Board. Only anti_crime advocates. Investors push the prison system to hold on to offenders to pay their returns, no matter how hard we work to “rehalibitate” ourselves, sentence reduction credit is not granted. Inconsistency of sentencing and how policy is changed without notification, for example, 12-months and 9-months review were taken off the table without alerting offenders that Board hearing dates were changed/delayed. Since the Marijuana bill passed, no female offenders have been released as it relates to the statue. The offenders who were and are eligible were to be notified and they have not been. According to the statistical data on Missouri prison terms, the male offenders ” actual time served” is far less than females due to “overcrowding”. This is sexual discrimination. The Parole Board has a complete lack of transparency about how they reach decisions on release dates. Regular Auditing needs to be done to skimming by staff and nonpayment to venders which results in contracts not being renewed. Missouri Vocational Enterprise workers were transferred from Vandalia in 2020. They were dropped down to .30 cents an hour when most of them made .50 cents and all of the leads were making 71 cents an hour. When we come into R and O, we are given a brochure in Vandalia about the ” Salient Score” calculations and the Missouri Department Of Corrections does not follow the Salient Score calculations at all.
