2/25/11

My Experiences With The Alaska Department Of Probation: Part Three

Part 1, part 2. part 4.
The month before my last appointment with my parole officer I sent in a report. I mentioned that I would most likely be evicted and homeless soon. It is not because I have done anything wrong. I have lived here a year and about seven months and have been told more than once I am a good tenant and in fact the former owner of the property is trying to help me. I can’t discuss the circumstances yet, but when events start to occur I certainly will. Hypocrisy and incompetence are involved. So, unless they just ignore those reports I am forced to send in they knew this when I came in for my recent appointment and would have known I was upset already. Did they decide to pour salt into the wounds? In the future I am not telling them anything unless it is clearly required. My ass could fall off and I would not say anything.

I went to the meeting by taxi as always. When they ask me where I am going I tell them the Trading Bay Center in Kenai. They then ask what part. I tell them, “The adult probation department, I am the most dangerous criminal in Alaska.” Then they always laugh or say , “No you aren’t, I am.”
 
At the P.O. office I fill out the ridiculously redundant monthly report in the waiting area and then usually start reading a book. Having people fill out a report who have just come in to have a meeting with their P.O. serves what purpose? I get wanded in the hall for metal detection on the way in and sometimes they want to see what is in my backpack, etc. On very rare occasions I have peed in a cup. I had no problem with that for a very long time, now I am afraid they will manipulate a positive toxicology screen somehow. I have told them I would demand an immediate blood test at a lab if it comes up positive. The thing is they clearly know I am not a user of drugs for a lot of reasons and apparently someone isn’t happy they can’t find anything to charge me with and would like to find something, anything to cause me trouble. They know exactly what they are doing. Is it any wonder I rarely leave my apartment.

My meetings are pretty much a waste of time. We discuss books, movies, new nutritional research I have read or I might talk about politics, etc. Sometimes there is an issue, like the time he told me Judge Esch called and left a message because they needed to send me my bail money and wanted my address. I asked him if he did not think it was odd the judge called rather than staff. He said yes he did. I explained that the most likely scenario was Judge Esch was fishing for information.

This last meeting I was told my file had been audited. My P.O. said his files had been audited. Who knows what the truth really is. He wanted to check some things to make sure I was in “compliance“. Why after all this time? I have been on probation for two years and five months with seven months to go. He then told me they needed my mental health records or they would be putting me back on monthly visits instead of visits every three months. He said he had to do what his supervisor told him to do, that would be Ruben Foster. I was thinking about what the hell they were up to and trying to figure out what specifically it was they wanted to do with the records. He knows full well the hell I have gone through in this state trying to get counseling and I certainly have not kept it a secret, perhaps he should read my blog. It is not possible to get professional counseling on the Kenai Peninsula and I just end up with lots of bills. I found someone in Anchorage, but I had to go to Soldotna for housing. The last psychologist here in Soldotna was nice, but the appointments were pretty useless and he got up to three phone calls during our appointments and once had a very long conversation with someone while I was sitting there thinking, WTF! So, when there was a HIPPA issue with another staff affiliated with that clinic I no longer felt comfortable seeing him as she made snarky remarks about information in my medical history.

We discussed the fact that I look a lot different than I used to because I am healthier and have lost weight. He said they should take a new picture of me and they would need to do a home visit. Last time they did one it was because I complained to the chief P.O. I thought, Holy Shit! Is this all they could come up with for harassment and just where is this coming from?

I tried not to be upset and even told him I would send a copy of one of the H & Ps from Providence Hospital. I had a bad feeling when I arrived that day and a fever from a virus. I had also not slept due to being upset about having the appointment that day. I am never in very good shape when I go in there due to the stress and lack of sleep. So, I waited until I got home to think about what all of this meant. When I got home and read the narrative in the H & P from Providence I realized I did not want them to have my medical records. My whole story is so long and so strange that the doctors can never get the story straight in the narrative, none of them. Whenever I get something from a doctor I correct all of the errors and replace the false information. If the DOC has my medical records that would mean the Department of Law has them too. The DOL could take one of the reports of focus on something in the narrative that is not even true and perhaps use it against me. That is how they operate. I don’t want either of these agencies to have my personal information. Not in this state, no way. Oh, they will find out about it in the future in another venue.

I tried to call Donna White, the director of DOP and was told she was out until the end of the month. I called the chief P.O. supervisor for my area Rebecca Brunger and was told she was traveling at least twice and that no one was covering for Donna White. Then I called another chief P.O.’s office who was also reported to be traveling and some secretary told me Edward Schmidtz at the DOC was covering for Donna White after she asked me what my call was about. I told her mostly DOP policies which was true.

Then I decided to call the supervisor Ruben Foster at the Kenai Probation office. I generally tried to just avoid him after the dental appointment incident as it was clear he was just a mean jerk and also my P.O. had told me he had to audit my file because his supervisor told him to. I certainly did not want to talk with the higher ups at DOC and they generally did not return phone calls anyway. I explained why I did not want the DOC or DOL to have my medical records. Since they know nothing about mental health and it seems their purpose is to cause more psychological trauma what they hell would they do with them that was legitimate anyway? They certainly would not be able to understand in any kind of meaningful way what the doctors explained in the H & P. It’s none of their damn business anymore, they have proven to me they are not trustworthy or even humane. I was not allowed to use it for defense and now they want the information. Their purpose seems to be to inflict pain. He told me the court ordered me to supply the reocrds. I explained the court ordered a chemical dependency evaluation, but not a mental health evaluation. The chemical dependency evaluation said I did not need that kind of treatment, I needed counseling for PTSD. I have a court ordered condition for that report and it has been provided. He told me the “deal” was that I was to give them the records or they could go to court and get my conditions amended. Really, after two years and five months of a three year probation? I described to him that both sides in Nome worked to keep me from using my mental health status in court and I doubted the court would order my mental health records be exposed. While I said that I was thinking now it would be even harder to get that condition because they would be trying to protect their asses. After I explained why I did not want them to have my mental health records he said, “I’m all about kindness and”, I think he said compassion here but don‘t remember, as soon as he made this snarky comment I was shocked at his gall. I then said, “Oh, is that why you would not let me go to my dental appointment that day?” Ruben Foster then stated angrily, “Now you’ve stepped over the line.” Oh really, was that a threat, again? So, it seems the main problem in this office is Ruben Foster, he is a bully. That makes him DOC material.

I asked him why after 2.5 years with 7 months of probation to go they were auditing my file, asking for mental health records and threatening to change me from minimal supervision to monthly. He said he did not know I only had seven months to go. They have a friggin file on me and apparently having just audited it had no idea how long I had been on probation nor how much time I had left. He also asked. “Is there a problem with you coming to see us?” I told him it was traumatic, triggered my PTSD for at least a week before the appointments, the stress caused my CFS/ME to flare up, I never knew what kind of abuse to expect, it is expensive and a waste of time. I left out one part, that I really did not like to associate with mean illogical, abusive people. After this conversation I realized it was very clear their intentions had been to harm me on purpose.

So after all this time having found no reason to charge me with violation of probation are they getting desperate? I have done nothing wrong which is my general state of behavior. Perhaps someone does not like what I have been writing about. Is this retaliatory? Is this about the FOIAs I have been sending out to agencies. Perhaps the one about a prisoner found down in a private prison in Colorado who later died was upsetting for someone. (BTW, they gave me nothing) Why no audits before in 2.5 years and 5 months?

End of part three. I bet you thought there could not be more, but there is.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the trouble you have gone through.

Please keep yourself safe. I'd also be recording all phone conversations you have with them and I'd be secretly recording all appointment conversations. Or even openly record them, tell them you need to for your own recall, not because you don't trust them.

You probably are ruffling someone's feathers, tread carefully until you are out of the system!

And I'd get the heck out of AK as soon as you can, you are too isolated up there and it's too hard to get good help.

I'm sorry you are going through this Celia.