Valley State Prison for Women
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| Location | Chowchilla, California |
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| Coordinates | 37°06′18″N 120°09′18″W / 37.1050°N 120.1550°WCoordinates: 37°06′18″N 120°09′18″W / 37.1050°N 120.1550°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Medium |
| Capacity | 1,536 (female) 444 (male) |
| Population | 1,353 (304.7%) (male) (as of 31 December 2012) |
| Opened | April 1995 |
| Managed by | California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation |
| Warden | Raythel Fisher, Jr. |
Valley State Prison, previously the Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), is a state prison in Chowchilla, California. It is across the road from Central California Women's Facility. It used to be a prison for women.
It is 250 miles (400 km) north of Downtown Los Angeles.
VSPW covers approximately 640 acres (260 ha). In September 28, 2010, VSPW had a total of 1,222 staff and an annual operating budget of $129.3 million. As of March 2012, it had a design capacity of 1,980 but a total institution population of 2,431.
VSPW holds prisoners at almost all security levels:
The mission of VSPW is multi-fold. VSPW functions as a Reception Center (RC) and as a General Population institution providing education and vocational opportunities for inmates. For inmates requiring a higher level of management care, VSPW has an Administrative Housing Unit (ASU) and Security Housing Unit (SHU). VSPW is also designed as the hub facility for female inmates with mobility impairments, and the ASU and SHU serves as a hub for housing inmates in the Mental Health Services Delivery System (MHSDS) at the Enhanced Outpatient Program (EOP) level of care. VSPW also houses pregnant inmates.
The Chowchilla Family Express provides transportation for family members from major California cities to visit prisoners at the facility.
The prison opened in April 1995. In 1996, the City of Chowchilla was given permission to perform a non-contiguous annexation of VSPW.
Ted Koppel interviewed many staff, including Dr. Anthony DiDomenico, the chief medical officer of VSPW, in October 1999 for series of episodes of Nightline. In the expose, the physician was quoted as saying "I've heard [from a particular female parolee, at CDCR-approved conference] inmates tell me that they would deliberately like to be examined [i.e., receive a pelvic examination ]. It's the only male contact they get." After the airing of the Nightline episode, only DiDomenico was reassigned "to a desk job in Sacramento" for his description.
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