We are in the midst of a profound crisis in our nation’s correctional system.
Across the country, our nation’s prisons are dangerously understaffed and overcrowded.
Policymakers must act now to protect the health and safety of correctional staff, incarcerated people, and the public at large.
Prisons across the country are dangerously understaffed, overcrowded, and plagued by rapidly deteriorating conditions.
One Voice United (OVU) and FAMM, two leading organizations representing correctional staff (OVU) and incarcerated people and their families (FAMM), have joined together to form the Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign.
For too long, our constituencies have been pitted against one another while the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, friends, and loved ones has suffered. While it may be surprising to some people that we would work together to draw attention to this crisis, we know our fates are intertwined and we have a shared goal of ensuring the health and safety of everyone who works and lives in prison.
EndorseFor too long, our constituencies have been pitted against one another while the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, friends, and loved ones has suffered. While it may be surprising to some people that we would work together to draw attention to this crisis, we know our fates are intertwined and we have a shared goal of ensuring the health and safety of everyone who works and lives in prison.
SAFER PRISONS SAFER COMMUNITIES
In The News
November 19, 2025
How much has prison staffing slumped across New York State?
A new report from the department overseeing the New York State prison system shows that as staffing has slumped over the past two decades, prison violence has been on the rise.
The numbers illustrate a heightened risk of violence, mostly to other inmates, under the responsibility of a dwindling number of officers. The prison system has suffered a staffing crisis after Gov. Hochul ordered the firing of striking guards earlier this year. The retaliatory slashing of jobs, which the state replaced with the National Guard, furthered a decline that’s been underway for the past two decades.
Read ArticleNovember 19, 2025
The New Head of N.C.’s Prisons Tries to Unwind a Staffing Quagmire
North Carolina, like many other states, is dealing with a serious shortage of correctional officers. Across N.C. state prisons, an average of 35 percent of positions are vacant, but that number is as high as 60 in some facilities. Most prisons don’t have enough staff to cover regular duties inside, let alone think about preparing incarcerated individuals for the outside.
Leslie Cooley Dismukes, the new secretary of the state Department of Adult Correction, is in the process of visiting all of the state’s 53 prisons, aiming to improve conditions throughout the system. That includes getting all facilities equipped with air conditioning by 2027, increasing technical skills training options for incarcerated people, and adding more chaplains. She and her staff have revamped the DAC’s disciplinary guidelines to reduce its reliance on solitary confinement, which it calls “restrictive housing.” Instead, it encourages the use of other consequences for poor behavior, such as withholding privileges.
The problem isn’t unique to North Carolina. “It’s a national crisis, no doubt about it,” said Brian Dawe, national director of One Voice United, a correctional officers’ advocacy group. Younger workers want to make a difference and feel valued, he said. But the way most CO jobs are structured, “there’s no mission accomplishment—just trying to come home in one piece.”
Read ArticleNovember 18, 2025
Review details problems with solitary confinement, overcrowding in Wisconsin prisons
A recently-released report details problems at Wisconsin prisons including high staff turnover, overcrowding and issues with solitary confinement.
Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections paid the firm Falcon, Inc. roughly $500,000 to complete the year-long review of the prison system’s adult facilities.
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