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
February 5, 2026
North Carolina prisons face ‘dire’ staffing crisis
About one in four state prisons — 14 facilities — have half or more of their correctional officer positions vacant, according to December 2025 staffing data from the Department of Adult Correction provided to NC Health News. Vacancy rates by facility range from a low of about 5 percent to as high as nearly 69 percent.
N.C. Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes told the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety on Jan. 15 that to fully staff all posts across North Carolina’s prisons, the department needs 9,682 officers — a shortfall of 4,703 people, or an overall vacancy rate of nearly 49 percent.
Read ArticleFebruary 4, 2026
Police union backs federal bill aimed at preventing corrections officer suicide
The Fraternal Order of Police has thrown its support behind federal legislation designed to improve mental health screening and care for corrections officers, citing elevated suicide rates and the unique dangers of working inside correctional facilities.
In a Jan. 26 letter to Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.), FOP National President Patrick Yoes endorsed H.R. 2305, the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act.
Read ArticleFebruary 3, 2026
Exclusive: State prisons grew deadlier and more violent amid guard shortage, review finds
State prisons in the United States became more violent and nearly 50% deadlier over the past five years as authorities struggled to keep enough guards on the job, according to a government-funded report to be released on Wednesday.
The United States locks away more people than any other nation, including about 1 million people in state-run prisons. The previously unreported evaluation, paid for by the U.S. Department of Justice and conducted by an initiative called Safe Inside, found that those systems are under increasing strain, even as many states sharply reduced the number of people they locked up.
Read Article