From radical hospitality in LA County Twin Towers to the reality of state prison: A conversation with former inmate Mental Health Assistant Adrian Berumen (Part One)

Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart

In this 2 -part interview with Adrian Berumen, an inmate at Calipatria State Prison, we track his journey from serving as an inmate Mental Health Assistant (MHA) at LA County Twin Towers to being sentenced to serve a 25-year to life sentence.

Adrian’s story resonates with Heart Forward because his peer service, under the supervision of the LA Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and the LA County Correctional Health Services in LA County jail, exemplified the radical hospitality that undergirds the mission of our organization.

We note that Adrian spent nine years at LA County jail awaiting his trial and in 2017 volunteered to move from Men’s Central Jail into Twin Towers to assist with the most seriously mentally ill inmates living in 141 E and F pod. Over the course of this time, in collaboration with his partner Craigen Armstrong, who had been transferred from San Quentin’s Death Row to await a new trial, they began to flesh out their role as Mental Health Assistants. In 2020, they collaborated on a book about their experience.

Owing to the leadership of Supervisor Hilda Solis on the LA Board of Supervisors, there is a commitment to expand the number of MHA's and to provide greater support to their work. Supervisor Solis had unanimous support for a motion she introduced in June 2023 to expand the number of MHA's three-fold. More recently, in a November 2023 motion, which was seconded by Janice Hahn, she asked for a report back in 90 days on a number of potential supports that would acknowledge the work of the inmate MHA's.

Adrian’s story raises important questions:

· What does rehabilitation look like with our California prison system?

· Why can’t we consider a different model to come alongside prisoners with mental illness? The pilot that has been successful in LA County could be replicated by CDCR. This might be similar to the work done by the Gold Coats in San Luis Obispo County.

· Could LA County and CDCR negotiate an agreement that inmate MHA's doing this work in LA could see their "credits" transferred to the state prison system?

Resources:
Podcast interview S1 Ep 5 conducted in 2020.

12/23 article in LA Times: Seeking Redemption: A death row Inmate’s journey into LA County’s largest psych ward.

Prison Levels in CA State System

Website which documents the work of the Mental Health Assistants
To contact Adrian Berumen, BU 1415
PO Box 1415
Calipatria State Prison
Calipatria, CA 92233-5007