What’s it like to live in the Transitional Care Unit? 

Being incarcerated is a tough situation for the average person. There are multiple women here at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) who face an even tougher situation, as they are not only incarcerated, but are also Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) class members who require a wheelchair for mobility. 

Every housing unit in the facility has designated rooms able to accommodate mobility-impaired residents; however, many of the residents who permanently require wheelchairs are housed in the Transitional Care Unit (TCU) on Facility B. These individuals generally have additional medical conditions along with using a wheelchair. 

The TCU houses residents who receive a greater level of medical attention and care than the general population, but not so immediate or serious that they require being housed in the Skilled Nursing Facility. 

The population in this unit is low due to the medical criteria to be housed there. There are generally 60 or fewer residents in the TCU; other units can house up to 256 people but tend to have around 160 residents. 

Some General Population (GP) residents are also housed in the unit, primarily ADA workers and Peer Support Specialists. These workers help attend to some of the residents’ needs, and being in the unit provides much easier access for them. Even with some GP residents on the yard, the TCU residents say it can feel isolated. 

There are nursing staff within the unit, and medications are dispensed to residents inside the unit. All the rooms have some type of ADA accommodations. 

Rooms for mobility-impaired individuals have handrails in the restrooms and showers, handheld shower heads, bench seats in the showers, and medical call buttons. Rooms designated for permanent wheelchair users have fewer bunks for more space, shorter lockers for easier access, showers with handrails, and bench seats in the showers as well as direct wheelchair access from the commode; large, angled mirrors that allow residents to see themselves fully without standing; and medical call buttons. 

Resident Joan Lisa Featherston, a lifer, has been incarcerated for more than 30 years and is currently living in the TCU. 64 years old, she has used a wheelchair off and on from the age of two, becoming permanently dependent on it approximately 19 years ago. Featherston is very grateful to be in the TCU because she has faced difficulties in GP units due to her wheelchair. 

“In here, I don’t worry about not having enough space to move around the room with my roommates, and I get really fast — like instant — medical attention if there is an emergency,” she said. “The button is right there where we can all reach it. Nobody has to yell or bang on the door and hope to be heard.” 

The one obstacle she struggles with most by herself is the terrain in the facility. 

“None of this ground is wheelchair friendly anymore,” she added. “The steepness and all of the bumps in the cement — the chair barely gets over some at all, and it’s so rough.” 

She said she hopes there will be improvements made soon. 

After being invited to comment, the facility’s ADA Coordinator Associate Warden Michael Dunn let us know that CCWF “maintains established processes to identify, evaluate, and remediate accessibility concerns consistent with ADA requirements and departmental policy.” 

The primary mechanism addressing accessibility-related concerns and is available to all incarcerated persons is the CDCR 1824 process. Dunn said the institution reviews CDCR 1824 submissions and conducts ongoing assessments of accessibility so that maintenance can take place as resources and operational needs allow. 

Yolanda Bourassa also lives in the TCU. She estimates she’s been in her wheelchair for 10 to 15 years, all of which has been during her incarceration. She said moving to the TCU has helped to improve her health drastically. 

“I weighed 350 lbs. before I moved over here. Now I’m down to 214 and still losing weight,” Bourassa said. “Part is from the [weight-loss medication] Wegovy, but I’m going to be able to get out of this chair because losing the weight will let me get my knee surgery done.” 

Bourassa credits the lower stress level in the unit for helping her to make healthy changes in her life. 

“I want people to know that you can do anything. You don’t have to be stuck in this chair,” she said. 

Like Featherston, Bourassa said she is grateful for the more concentrated medical attention in the TCU. She also expressed a great amount of relief that there are people in the unit who are willing to help the residents. 

“No one would be able to clean the top of the lockers or get all of their clothes out of the washer without them,” Bourassa said. “It makes a huge difference.”