California Institution for Women

California Institution for Women

The California Institution for Women (CIW) resembles a college campus because it’s intended to be a new beginning for women who have committed felony crimes. “Frontera,” as it was originally called, is a place to rehabilitate women.  Help from a good Corona bail bonds company might expedite the release process for some individuals. Warden Molly Hill had 28 years of corrections experience when she transferred from the California Institute for Men where she was the Chief Deputy Warden. Her duties are housing and rehabilitation of women with felony convictions. Her rehabilitation programs include education, vocational training, substance abuse treatment, and leisure time activities. She also leads inmate support groups and knows her inmates personally.

Contact Information

Telephone Number: (909) 597-1771

Visitors

Visitors must be preapproved by the institution and the inmate. Visiting hours are from 8:30 am – 2:00 pm on Saturday, Sunday, New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Please call the Visitor Center during visiting hours for assistance with visitation at (909) 597-1771.

U. S. Postal Service

Addressing mail to the California Institute for Women is easy. The physical and mailing addresses are the same: 16756 Chino-Corona Road, Corona, California 92880.

Business correspondence is delivered faster when Institutional Business Correspondence is the first line of the address. Similarly, Inmate Correspondence in the first line of the address is delivered immediately to the inmate by her inmate number. It may be easy to use this locater to find an inmate’s number.

Rehabilitation

Inmate Family Councils (IFC’s) are support groups of wardens, families, and friends of inmates who meet regularly. IFC’s promote visitation, health, education, and occupational training. The primary mission of the CIW is to provide a safe secure prison for female Level I/III offenders. The CIW also provides quality health care, substance abuse counseling, forestry and firefighter training, and a long list of self-help groups for incarcerated felons.

Education

The California Institution for Women provides all women inmates the opportunity to accomplish a General Education Development (GED) certificate, an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, and vocational training. Some of the endless opportunities for women are in the following occupational fields:

• Cosmetology
• Data Processing
• Fire Fighting
• Forest Conservation

California Institution for Women Female Firefighters

Battling 30 to 40-foot flames, California Institution for Women inmates are ready for the challenge. “Camp New Beginnings” on California Institution for Women grounds issues “firefighter” certificates to select physically fit women inmates. Since 1983, three hundred women inmates battle forest fire lines every summer. Armed with chain saws and shovels, they work to contain large forest fires. They are not clearing brush, and they work side by side on rugged terrain with male forest firefighters. The state of California houses nearly 4,000 inmates in forest conservation and firefighter camps. Female graduates of California Institution for Women firefighter training get to move into camps in San Diego or Los Angeles.

Forest Conservation

Graduates of the California Institute for Women’s Rainbow Conservation Camp cleared beetle-infested Torrey Pines. The Captain supervising the project called clearing the thick tall trees an industrial-size job. Inmate Patricia Meyers was exhilarated. She was “proud of what she [was] doing” and was “eager to be assigned to a forest conservation camp.”

Money to Inmates

If you send money to an inmate who owes restitution to a crime victim, as much as 55% of the amount you send will go to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board to pay restitution. The inmate will receive at most 45% of the money you send if they owe restitution to the state or a crime victim. Upon an established relationship with an inmate, money may be sent three different ways:

• Lock Box
• Electronic Fund Transfer
• U. S. Postal Service

Get on the Bus

The annual “Get on the Bus” program offers free transportation for children to visit their mothers in prison. Each child receives a picture taken with his or her mother and meals for the day. They eat breakfast and snacks on the bus, and they enjoy a special lunch with their mothers at no cost to their families. Each child receives a teddy bear and a letter from the mother at the end of the four-hour visit. After post-event counseling, the children get dinner on the way home.