By Andy Potter
Across the United States, correctional facilities are facing an unprecedented staffing crisis, with officers working dangerously long shifts, suffering high rates of injuries and developing PTSD from the relentless demands of an overwhelmed prison system. Nowhere is this crisis more evident than in New York, where corrections officers recently resorted in desperation to unsanctioned strikes at all but one of the state’s 42 facilities.
New York reaches a deal — but the crisis is national
After 11 days of strikes, an agreement was reached with the state that would address staffing and mandatory overtime. What’s happening in New York reflects a national prison staffing crisis. New Hampshire, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Tennessee are just a few of the many states grappling with the downward-spiraling effects of severe staffing shortages. Nationally, new data show that the number of corrections officers working in state prisons declined 20% from 2017-2022.
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The mental health toll on officers is staggering
As a former corrections officer, this is deeply personal for me. About a decade ago, I lost 20 of my friends and colleagues to suicide in the span of two years. Most people aren’t aware of the statistics, but corrections officers develop PTSD at rates higher than returning war veterans, and are more likely to die by suicide than all other law enforcement professionals. We also have life spans that are 16 years shorter than the average American. These statistics are directly tied to our working conditions. The chronic stress of being understaffed significantly impacts mental health, and we’re doing corrections staff — and their families and communities — a huge disservice by failing to address it.
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There are roughly six million Americans living and working in our nation’s jails and prisons right now, and when prisons are understaffed, safety is the first thing to go for corrections officers and incarcerated people alike. Rates of violence in our prisons are now skyrocketing; the numbers in New York provide a stark example. Data from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) shows that there were 2,070 assaults on staff in 2024, far more than the previous four years. Assaults among incarcerated individuals were also substantially higher in 2024 than in previous years — almost triple the number from 2020. Violence that occurs behind the prison walls also leads to cascading ripple effects when correctional workers bring that stress and trauma home to their families and our communities.
Understaffing puts safety and rehabilitation at risk
The national shortage of correctional officers and other essential prison staff has also left rehabilitation programs and activities, meant to prepare incarcerated individuals for reintegration into society, entirely shuttered or cut significantly. When rehabilitation programs are cut, we force our communities to face the consequences and costs in the form of higher recidivism rates.
Meanwhile, state correctional directors and commissioners are left to manage a staffing crisis, decades in the making, without the necessary support or resources needed from Governors or legislators. Simply appointing a new Director or Commissioner in hopes that the problem will disappear only leads to unproductive finger-pointing, implementation of one-off programs, and reforms that can neither be replicated nor address the systemic issues that cause understaffing.
While it is hard to imagine solutions in this polarized political time, even the most divided stakeholders will need to build bridges and solve these problems together before this crisis spirals even further out of control.
We need sustainable solutions
Correctional leaders who are publicly acknowledging this dire situation and seeking solutions should be commended. Their leadership is crucial in exposing the depth of the problem and pressing for more meaningful and long-term changes. While solutions do exist, there is no “silver bullet” that can resolve this crisis overnight.
Until government officials, administrators and policymakers truly engage with those closest to the problem, including correctional officers, the unions that represent them, and those who are incarcerated, any attempt at real reform will fall flat. The criminal justice system cannot afford to keep perpetuating the ongoing “us versus them” mentality that pits staff against inmates and administrators against frontline workers. Instead, all stakeholders must come together to create sustainable solutions.
We must also recognize the need to adapt and appeal to the needs and expectations of the modern workforce. Today’s generation is less inclined to accept the personal and family sacrifices that were once considered standard in corrections. The working conditions that were once considered an acceptable trade-off for job stability and good benefits are no longer sufficient. If we continue to ignore these workforce shifts, recruitment and retention will continue to suffer.
The reality is that our prison system is simply too big, too complex, too expensive, and too political for any one person, state, or group to solve alone. Only through shared agency, honest dialogue, and a commitment to real and systemic change, can we hope to transform a system that is failing everyone it touches. We must work together to bring about lasting change and commit to real solutions before the crisis deepens beyond repair. The safety of our officers, incarcerated individuals and communities depends on it.
About the author
Andy Potter is the Founder of One Voice United, a national organization that advocates for the inclusion of corrections employees in conversations at the local, state, and national level on corrections and the criminal justice system.