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 12, 2026
When cold weather becomes a death sentence
Dozens of currently and formerly incarcerated people across the country have shared with researchers and media outlets their accounts of frigid showers, threadbare clothing and temperatures so low that they can see their breath inside their cells throughout the winter.
Even if a prison has a heating system, it often isn’t able to warm all parts of the facility quickly and adequately, said Ben Barron, author of a study on the climate risks to prison infrastructure in Colorado. “These buildings are not built to do anything beyond keep a population contained and controlled,” Barron said.
Read ArticleFebruary 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 Article