Dozens of employees with disabilities to lose jobs at Vacaville prison hospital in favor of state jobs

VACAVILLE – California stands to gain dozens of new state jobs in November at California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville, but it comes at the cost of cutting those jobs for people with disabilities who currently have them. 

CMF is the state hospital housed at Solano State Prison that provides medical care for inmates across the region. 

PRIDE Industries, an organization with the mission of connecting people with disabilities to meaningful employment, currently has more than 70 employees contracted for custodial work at CMF. 

“We accommodate them. Whether it be for something a simple as having extra breaks or having someone assigned to work with them throughout every shift,” said Ameer Habeeb, director of environmental services for Pride Industries’ Vacaville office. “Our main goal is to make our staff successful, whatever their version of success is.”

Those CMF employees that Habeeb supervises will all be out of a job on Nov. 1 after their contract was terminated early by the State Personnel Board.

He says he is devastated and hurt by the news, having first gotten his fresh start with PRIDE six years ago. 

“It meant the world to me to have that opportunity from people who understood I might have some challenges,” said Habeeb, a service-disabled veteran. 

PRIDE employs people with disabilities that range from intellectual to physical disabilities, including disabled veterans. 

Habeeb worked his way up to a management position after first starting on the front lines with PRIDE, doing custodial work at CHCF in Stockton. 

“I was able to get promotions because my disability was accommodated,” Habeeb said. “They worked very hard to work with me and allow me opportunity so the hard work I put in when I was in the military paid off here.” 

PRIDE stands to see its 70 jobs cut at CMF after local union SEIU 1000 petitioned the State Personnel Board to terminate PRIDE’s contract that was valid through 2025. SEIU won the challenge. 

In documents obtained by CBS13, SEIU wrote the following to the board:

“The State of California has traditionally employed civil service employees in various job classifications providing custodial services on behalf of state agencies and departments. As you know, the contracting of civil service work is prohibited…” 

Civil service work in this context simply means that those are state jobs filled by state workers. 

“At SEIU we strongly oppose outsourcing and I think this is just one of many examples where the State is continuing to be a bad actor by having our state jobs contracted out,” Anica Wells, SEIU 1000 president, told CBS13. 

CBS13 reporter Ashley Sharp asked Wells, “PRIDE Industries has said it’s wrong of the State to take these jobs away from people who have disabilities, that they need these accommodations. What is your reaction to that?”

“Reasonable accommodations, these are all things that being a part of a union, being a state employee would afford these individuals. If anything, it’s not a loss, it would be a win. The more of us there are, the stronger we are together,” responded Wells in part. 

It is not clear if any PRIDE employees would qualify for those CMF jobs once they transition to state positions. 

PRIDE says what they do for their employees with disabilities cannot be matched elsewhere. 

“There’s no other opportunities out here in this area for my staff to go to,” said Habeeb. “So it’s gonna be devastating if we lose this contract.” 

The State Personnel Board’s final decision has been made. 

Documents obtained by CBS13 that outline the Board’s reasoning read:

“California Correctional Health Care Services simply failed to meet its burden in showing that it exercised any effort at filling the vacant civil service positions that can and have historically performed the work called for under the contract. As such, the contract is impermissible… and therefore must be terminated.” 

PRIDE’s contract will officially end in November unless the Board changes its mind or another governing body steps in, including Governor Gavin Newsom, to whom PRIDE says it has tried to appeal this decision. 

“There’s plenty of work at the facility for everyone. For me, it’s a slippery slope. It sets a dangerous precedent for equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities in California,” said Habeeb. 

In a letter obtained by CBS13, the California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) wrote to the State Personnel Board in May 2024 that it and the California Department of Corrections (CDCR) supported keeping PRIDE Industries as contracted workers at CMF. 

“The contract has been a win-win-win for CCHCS and CDCR, PRIDE’s workers, and the broader community. In short, CCHCS and CDCR would welcome the opportunity to continue this contract. Unfortunately, in a September 18, 2023 decision, the State Personnel Board’s Executive Officer directed CCHCS and CDCR to terminate the contract with PRIDE,” the letter reads. 

Although CDCR says it is on track to fill the jobs that will be vacated by PRIDE employees with state workers, CCHCS  went on to write it would welcome an extension of the PRIDE contract for up to six months to “assess the durability of this solution.” 

“I am informed that CDCR developed a plan to hire 46 civil servants and 62 incarcerated persons to perform the janitorial work covered by the contract with PRIDE,” the CCHCS letter to the Board reads. 

Back in March 2024, CBS13 reported that PRIDE employees at the Sacramento International Airport (SMF) lost their jobs when PRIDE was out-bid by a new service contractor, TMM Housekeeping, that would save Sacramento County $20 million. 

Of the 97 employees who provided janitorial services at SMF:

“The PRIDE employees at the SMF airport contract were protected by the CA Janitors Displacement Act that gives employees the protections to keep their jobs for at least 60 days. In this case incumbent employees have a choice to remain with the successor contractor, resign or/and in this case we were able to keep many employees within PRIDE contracts locally,” said a PRIDE Industries Spokesperson. 

Regarding the CMF contract, the CA Displacement Janitors Act does not apply. 

“CAL PIA (California Prison Industry Authority) has offered to consider hiring some of our people; however the State does not offer the same breath and depth of supports that PRIDE provides to people with significant disabilities,” the PRIDE statement concluded. 

PRIDE Industries will soon send out WARN Act notices to its employees to alert them they will be out of a job on Nov. 1 if nothing changes.