IDAHO STATE CORRECTIONAL CENTER DISCONTINUES ASSISTANCE TO PRISONERS WITH DISABILITIES - ALLOWS INMATE TO ACCESS SENSITIVE INFORMATION OF OTHER PRISONERS

For several years I was tasked with assisting other prisoners - specifically those with disabilities due to educational, mental, emotional and/or physical issues and some with language barriers - write Concern Forms, Grievances, and other required documents. Working between 16 and 24 hours per month (depending on the week and staffing) I was paid $10 per month from the Inmate Management Fund.

Despite the myriad of assistance I was asked to provide (including providing forms, determining the proper staff to address, suggest alternative resolution methods, identifying policy and SOPs, even explaining what WAS and WAS NOT likely a viable complaint to other prisoners lost in the bureaucratic shuffle), there were two (2) things I was specifically forbidden to assist other prisoners with: Parole Hearing Interview Packets, and documents containing (HIPAA privileged) medical information. I adhered to those restrictions.

Privileged medical information - well, that's pretty clear (though Concerns, Grievances and other documents about medical care in general were fine). Parole Hearing Interview Packets on the other hand seemed a bit odd, until it was explained to me that at some point in the past, another TA had "assisted" prisoner with his packet, but when it came time for his parole hearing, the information in the packet was incorrect, not what the prisoner wanted (or even knew anything about) and conflicted with the prisoner's official records. The prisoner's parole request was subsequently denied.

On top of that, Idaho Parole Hearing Interview Packets require prisoners to include personal information of family, friends and potential employers, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and other such data about people on the outside - including children. Thus, what happened in May, 2024 cannot be justified - but should be explained.

After the firing of an inmate Spanish-English translator in December, 2022, I was asked to take on the additional duties of an in-class Teacher's Assistant [TA] and translator for two separate Aggression Replacement Training (A.R.T.) classes. I was bound by all the same confidentiality rules as were actual students. I was also asked to provide extracurricular instruction for those students who needed it. I did so without complaint or increase in pay.

On May 17, 2024, after twice being denied permission to report to work (assisting with Concern forms) I was informed by the unit [security] Sergeant that Programs staff no longer wanted me to perform my job(s) - in any capacity.

I'd been told by a case manager [and instructor] a couple weeks earlier that another prisoner had been "hired' to assist Spanish-speaking prisoners in her sex offender class held on the unit. Since the inmate they "hired" sits in on the class - AND he already has a paying job with the Inmate Labor Detail (ILD) - I figured he was a sex offender in need of completing the class, and was simply a volunteer, helping those student prisoners who needed assistance comprehend the curriculum.

In a later conversation with the case manager, I learned the TA was not an actual student in the class.
I further learned that this TA doesn't actually translate for the class/students, but instructs them on what to say, write and include in their workbooks and assignments to complete the class.

According to two prisoners I have spoken with in the past week, this recently "hired" inmate TA is not only sitting in on the sex offender classes (and assisting them outside class), he is also "helping" them create content for, and filling out Parole Hearing Interview Packets. As part of this, the TA is literally taking draft and completed packets (along with the sensitive data) into his possession, and keeping it (for some unknown reason) in HIS cell - on a different tier of the unit.

There is also a complaint that the TA has asked for divorce paperwork from one of the prisoners, a document unnecessary for the completion of the packet of the class, but would likely contain social security numbers of any children born of the marriage. This same TA is also requesting that those he is assisting provide him with all the paperwork they have related to their criminal cases.

As it stands now, F Block prisoners with disabilities [FN 2] or are otherwise incapable of filling out Concern Forms, Grievances, Exception forms, library and Chapel requests and similar documents have no access to an experienced prisoner who has proven to be able to provide accurate data, assistance and information necessary to make it through a typical day/week in the Idaho Department of Correction. ISCC staff cannot determine or agree on who discontinued the program - or why.

___________________

[FN 1] According to facility administrators, inmates are allowed only one (1) job assignment at a time. Further, there are several hundred prisoners at the ISCC that are looking for jobs but cannot have one due to the scarcity of positions.

[FN 2] Disabilities may include those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), diagnosed or undiagnosed.