social worker

clinical psychologist

clinical counselor

psychiatric technician

registered nurse

California Correctional Health Care Services

Incompetence is a protected commodity in the CA State prison system.  If you try to point out the incompetence, you become the bad guy.  I can legitimately say that because as a Nurse Educator, I see the level of dysfunction first hand.  Nurses who could not succeed in any other hospital tend to congregate in the prison system because their incompetence is not just tolerated, but actively protected.  It has long been known that the prison system does not attract the best nor brightest.  However, some really good nurses work in the prisons.

As an educator, I am in the right place.  I have an opportunity to train staff and make substantive improvements in terms of competent Nursing Care.  My team of nurse educators are awesome!  I will also say that many office type jobs at the Headquarters level are filled with awesome staff too! 

In terms of management, there is no hope unless you somehow replace and rebuild from the top down.  The system is deeply plagued with favoritism, so advancement has little to do with competence.

Base pay is low, but combined with extraordinary benefits, it's a winning payout over time.  It's great for older nurses like me who want to pad their nest eggs because you can be vested in 5 years and walk away with a sweet CalPERS retirement.  But, you must be willing to put up with a dysfunctional state bureaucracy.

The pay is fantastic, and the pension is pretty good, provided you can make it to 62 now for newbies. Patients are actually the least of your problems. For whatever reason, management culture is overbearing, micromanaging, and flat out unbearable. Strictly self-serving, and are kings & queens in their own closed professional world.  If your in the crowd, your good to go. If your on the outs or have been targeted, it's over. time to move on,  Zero administrative support. As second level, were chronically short-staffed and held to a level of accountability that is impossible to achieve thanks to the ltiigious environment we work in, and the great state of California lets happen.  It is rough. Period. 12 years ago it was fun, could think for yourself, and as a supervisor actually had some 'clout' and could get the job done... now every decision you make has to be cleared by the CNE who then passes down what you Shall do, not what you Need to do, via the DON.  If you follow policy to the letter your good to go... but if things go south, as they often do, and you deviate in just the slightest from policy, you have now been put on the radar, and that radar is micro-managing, annoying, and rarely goes away.  Turnover is high as well.  If you take it on, I do wish you luck... I once was not jaded, but 12 years of prison will make even the brightest of souls.... dark, judgemental, and fried.  Thanks for reading...

I worked here for a little over a year.  I was an analyst.  The job itself was pretty easy and I got along well with my colleagues including my immediate supervisor.  It's the higher ups that made me want to leave because they are set in their own outdated ways that makes them very selfish.  Other divisions have been offering full or part-time teleworking while my division barely let us telework a few days a week.  Eventually the head director wants everyone back in the office full-time with no teleworking whatsoever.  Another thing I didn't like about upper management was how they never allowed people to work earlier in the morning or have an alternate schedule with a regular weekday off every other week.  They're very my way or the highway and the associate director even told us in a meeting that if we didn't like not being able to fully telework to look elsewhere and not let the door hit you on the way out.  Very unprofessional and narcissistic. 

Even with years of clinical and professional experience, you're never prepared for this work culture. The least stressful part of the job is working with inmates. No training or feedback in a very complex system with lots of growing expectations. Line employees (direct service provider) feedback is not considered in policy changes that directly impact our patients and work environment, which creates contradictions and extremely high stress on a weekly basis. Many employees are jaded due to ongoing system changes, high expectations, no praise for work, no increase in pay. Many compromised work areas such as health and safety hazards. The only reason anyone should work here is to have a secure job that will pay more with good benefits compared to any other public service employer.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people,.some are great .. the job is fair, but you work mostly all the weekends you have to be there more than 20 years to have weekends off.. they only go by seniority..

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The loud noise, screeming, and you are never aloud to have your phone ,not ever.. so if your doing 8 or 16 hrs a day get use to depart with your phone 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment is very cold in the winter and super hot in the summer .. they have no ac or heat, you work around inmates. Culture, you need to think of  how you act or say

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Either on the floor like a hospital or on mental health or they have you jumping from one assignment to the next is very unpredictable they use you where they need you

If you are a social worker, stay away from CMF in particular. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. At CMF there were so much policy change and little support from higher ups. They will work you to death with little support/coverage. Things are done last minute and without your input. Be wary of the social work supervisors; some of them are sneaky snakes. That being said, I did learned a lot. However, I did not feel like it was safe nor did I feel I was heard by management. Morale of clinicians are at all time low; little staff appreciation and a lot of lip services regarding support and appreciation. No concrete change to help lighten the load of the clinicians/staff. Half the time I was covering for another unit while keeping up with my own. We were losing 2-4 clinicians a month!

Employment within CCHCS is challenging but does offer rewards. Work hours are long (I am exempt) and expected to be so. I have learned to be autonomous, and to be a strong problem-solver in this environment. 
Skills of current management vary widely with 35 different prisons each permitted to act in a semi-autonomous manner... small fiefdoms. The culture is punitive, with a strong nepotism foundation.

The hardest part of the job is tolerating nepotism and unrealistic goals which were never meant to be met... it's a historical reality in this environment. The best part of the job is working to make the environment better for staff and patients, and being permitted to be creative in solution-seeking.

Not a place to work for younger people or those who are honest hard workers looking for advancement the right way. You can’t afford to go through a tough time in your life because no matter how hard you work they’ll be on you about attendance as opposed to a lazy worker with a pattern who really doesn’t want to be there. They won’t work with school schedules, god forbid you don’t partake in gossip, mind your business. Leave the C.O.s alone if you’re a nurse or medical anything, they practically eat you alive. It’s depressing workplace where you’re constantly criticized for doing a good job, if someone is discriminating or treating you unfairly you won’t get justice. OH! And the inmates make the employees look like demons compared to them.

This was the worst job of my life. California’s Men’s Colony: since day one there were many flaws. HR never confirmed pay rate said to discuss with personal. Personal said they don’t handle pay. So that was flaw #1 I got screwed over with pay rate, less than my previous job and for the type of invironment not worth it! Pay days just completely suck;monthly. Co-workers the worst! Mostly older people who take seniority too seriously and become so lazy! Also no place to eat, they do not offer a break room. Every single person working there are not friendly and just jerks including/ especially management. No one ever had an answer for you, no one to turn to. Glad I’m out!

When I first got hired on, it was under Department of State Hospitals and I worked at the California Medical Facility.  There was more of a structure under DSH and room for advancement if you're willing to either commute or relocate to either Napa or Sacramento. Once CDCR took over and we were placed under California Correctional Health Care Services, there was no opportunity to advance unless you promote outside of CCHCS.  Plus, they required all these hours to work with strict deadlines without giving us overtime or Saturdays to meet those deadlines which decreases our customer rapport.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Social worker 250 salaries reported	$8,960 per month
Clinical psychologist 108 salaries reported	$11,912 per month
Clinical counselor 101 salaries reported	$8,372 per month
Psychiatric technician 33 salaries reported	$6,361 per month
Registered nurse 17 salaries reported	$10,808 per month

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