California Rehabilitation Center

California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) is a male-only facility located in Norco, California. It houses approximately 3,400 inmates even though the capacity is just under 2,500. This prison is often referred to as, “Norco,” or, “Norco Prison.”

Even though CRC was designed to be a rehabilitation prison, the severe overcrowding means that many inmates were not there for rehab. Inmates incarcerated on drug charges receive a CDCR number that begins with N, and they must complete a rehab program that usually lasts nine months.

CRC is known for its six structured Substance Abuse Programs, and this facility is the only one in California giving recovered inmates the chance to erase their felony convictions. It also has an actors studio called the Actors Gang Program, which is overseen by actor Tim Robbins.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

The visiting hours at California Rehabilitation Center are between 7:30 am to 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and four holidays during each calendar year: New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

To get more information about visits at CRC, you should:

• Call the 800 Visitors’ Information number (800-374-8474) and follow the directions given on the recording; or,
• Visit the CDCR website www.cdcr.ca.gov. Click on Prisons, then select California Rehabilitation Center

The 800 Visitors’ Information number and website are great sources of up-to-date information on days and visiting hours at CRC, as well as information on lockdowns, medical quarantines, or other circumstances that affect visiting.

Before Visiting an inmate at CRC, we suggest the following:

1. Be sure to read the  Visitation Guidelines to understand what you can expect and what is expected of you
2. Make sure your friend or loved one is incarcerated at California Rehabilitation Center
3. Schedule a visit online using the VPASS system
4. The day of your scheduled visit, check the Visiting Status to ensure the institution is accepting visitors

Getting Approved for a Visit

To visit an inmate at CRC, the first thing you need to do is get on the approved visiting list. To do this, ask them to mail you a signed visitor questionnaire that you will then fill out and mail in to the facility.

The inmate’s signature must be on the visiting application because it is how they agree to add you to the visiting list.

Mail the completed questionnaire to:

California Rehabilitation Center
Visiting Sergeant
PO Box 1841
Norco, CA 92860- 0991

When you submit your questionnaire, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will conduct a background check. They will deny approval to visit if the check indicates an arrest or conviction not listed on the questionnaire. So, be sure to fill it out completely, and be honest and thorough with your answers.

If you are approved to visit, the prisoner will be notified and then it is their job to notify you. Once you are approved, you are listed in the computer as being an approved visitor for that specific prisoner, and you do not need to bring any proof of approval with you to the prison.

CRC will send you a letter if you are denied and give you the specific reason. The prisoner will also receive notice of the disapproval, but they will not be given the reason for denial.

Contact, Non-Contact, and Family Visits

Most prisoners are in general population and are allowed to have contact visits. During a contact visit, prisoners sit with their visitors in a large visiting room that has tables and chairs, and there are usually many other prisoners and visitors in the room.

When the visit begins and ends, you are allowed a brief hug and kiss, and you are allowed to hold hands during the visit.

The visiting room will have vending machines stocked with food and beverages for purchase by visitors and consumption by visitors and prisoners.

A visitor may not bring any food or beverage from the outside into the prison and cannot take out any food or beverage bought at the prison when they leave. Vending machines usually have sodas, water, sandwiches (including burgers), burritos, popcorn, candy, pastries, and coffee.

A limited number of board and card games are available for prisoners and their visitors to play together, and they also have children books that prisoners can read to their minor visitors, as well as religious materials from most major religions.

The visiting room also has digital cameras available for pictures of prisoners and/or their visitors to be taken. There is a cost for the photographs, usually two dollars each.

Contact visits are allow a maximum of five visitors at a time.

Prisoners who are still in reception, segregation, or who are assigned to Behavior Management Units are allowed non-contact visits.

At a non-contact visit, there is a glass partition between the prisoner and their visitors. Prison staff will escort the prisoner in handcuffs, and the officer will remove the handcuffs when the prisoner is secured in their side of the visiting booth.

Non-contact visits are restricted to three visitors and there is a time limit.

Some prisoners at California Rehabilitation Center are eligible for, “family visits.” These visits occur in private, apartment-like facilities on prison grounds and last approximately 30 to 40 hours.

Family visits are restricted to approved visitors who are immediate family members (parents, children, siblings, legal spouses, or registered domestic partners) of the prisoner. Family visits have limited availability, and an inmate can usually have one family visit every three to five months.

An eligible prisoner must put in an application for a family visit with their assigned Correctional Counselor at the prison.

General Visiting Rules

All adult visitors must present a current and valid photo ID or the visit will be denied. Minors (children under 18 years old) are required to be accompanied by an adult who is an approved visitor.

Visitors must remove all outer clothing (jackets, sweaters, etc.), shoes, and any jewelry that will set off the metal detector. Those items are placed along with other allowable items (money, comb, baby items, etc.) on either a conveyor belt for an x-ray search or on a counter for a manual search by staff. The visitor, including all minors, must clear a metal detector.

The only items you can bring into a visit are:

• A $50 limit per adult and $20 limit per minor to use at the vending machines, and you can only bring dollar bills, dollar coins, or quarters
• A small clear, plastic purse or bag
• Two keys on a ring with no other attachments
• Photo Identification
• A non-metallic comb or brush
• A small unopened pack of tissues or a handkerchief; no bandannas
• A pair of prescription glasses
• Ten Photos
• Documents up to 10 pages

The following baby items are allowed when you are bringing in an infant or toddler:

• Any combination of two factory-sealed single serving size, ready to feed bottles of baby formula, or two transparent plastic baby bottles either empty or containing pre-mixed formula/milk/juice/water
• Three non-glass containers of baby food in sealed packaging
• One plastic spoon
• Six disposable diapers
• One sealed package of baby wipes
• One change of clothing
• One small blanket
• Two searchable small toys
• One transparent pacifier
• One burp cloth
• Baby carrier
• One clear plastic diaper bag (12” by 20”)

Every adult visitor must fill out a pass each time he/she visits. The pass calls for the prisoner’s name and CDCR number, the relationship of the visitor to the prisoner (spouse, mother, friend, etc.), the visitor’s name and address, and the visitor’s signature.

If the adult visitor is bringing in minor children, he/she lists the names of the children on the pass. The completed pass is submitted to staff. Using a computer, staff checks the prisoner’s file to make sure the visitor is an approved visitor and that the prisoner is eligible to visit on that day.

Staff marks the pass with the prisoner’s housing and notes whether the visit is contact or non-contact. The pass, along with the visitor’s identification, is the visitor’s, “key,” to get into and out of the prison. Although the pass and identification may be held by staff once the visitor gets to the visiting room, it will be returned to the visitor upon leaving the visiting room.

Dress Code

Do not wear clothing that resembles the clothing that prisoners wear.  Do not wear clothing that resembles what custodial staff wear.

Be sure to dress conservatively and modestly, and do not wear any item that cannot be taken off and will not clear a metal detector (such as an underwire bra or clothing with metal buttons).

All mail should be addressed to the prisoner with his/her full name, his/her CDCR number, his/her housing, and the address of the prison.

Prison staff opens and inspects all mail sent to prisoners to make sure that it doesn’t contain contraband.

You may send prisoners the following types of mail:

• Letters (not more than 10 pages in one envelope)
• Cards (without stickers or glitter)
• Photographs (limited to 10 per envelope and no larger than 8” x 10”) No polaroids
• Drawings
• Children’s schoolwork
• Articles cut from newspapers or magazines

You can’t send books, magazines, newspapers, or packages directly to an inmate. Instead, you must send those through approved vendors.

How to Call an Inmate

Family and friends cannot call prisoners at CRC; prisoners must call to speak to someone outside the prison. The prisoners use designated phones that make collect calls to a landline or cell phones. The called party is responsible for paying for the calls. For complete details on how to call an inmate in California, please click here.

How to Send Money

Before sending money to an inmate at California Rehabilitation Center:

• Lookup the inmate’s CDCR number by using the Inmate Locator
• Make sure the inmate is located at California Rehabilitation Center by using the Facility Locator

There are three ways to send money to an inmate:

1. Lock Box
2. EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer)
3. Mail funds directly to the inmate

California Rehabilitation Center
Inmate Name / CDCR Number / Dorm & Bed
P.O. Box 2000
Norco, CA 92860

There is a 30-day hold on the money when you mail it directly to the institution, EFT is available within one to three days, and the lockbox method depends based on sending a check or money order.

​Programs For ​Inmates

• Vocational: Air Conditioning, Automotive, Electrical Works,  Electronics, Carpentry, Plumbing, Computer Literacy, and Office Services & Related Technologies.
• Academic: Adult Basic Education, High School/GED, Literacy Program, College Program.
• Other: Cal-Trans and CAL-Fire Crews, Religious, Hospitality Friends Outside, Self-Help Programs:  Narcotic Anonymous, Alcoholic Anonymous, Anger Management, Esjepo, TUMI, Veterans In Prison, Parenting and Toastmasters.
• Substance Abuse Programs: CRC hosts one structured Substance Abuse Program (SAP) geared towards assisting participating inmates and guiding them in the right direction to lead productive and meaningful lives.

In-Prison Programs provide comprehensive rehabilitative and educational programs for inmates while in prison.

These programs focus on:

• Cognitive Behavioral Treatment
• Pre-release education, planning, and skills
• Acquisition of California ID Card

Pictures of California Rehabilitation Center

Careers at California Rehabilitation Center

If you are interested in a job at California Rehabilitation Center, please visit the CalCareers website to view available positions.