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
January 26, 2026
NH Prison System Still Plagued by Staffing Shortage
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections typically has two classes of graduates from its training academy each year, one around March and one around August. But this past August, the department got so few candidates it didn’t even have an academy class and thus didn’t hire any new corrections officers, department officials told the Bulletin.
Corrections Commissioner William Hart said in his short time leading the department he has implemented measures aimed at addressing the staffing shortage. The department is offering a $10,000 signing bonus to new hires, which Hart said has attracted 160 new applicants, and held a one-day hiring “blitz” in December where applicants could do all the pre-academy hiring steps — medical examination, aptitude test, etc. — in a single day. He said progress won’t be fully apparent for eight months, because that’s how long it takes for officers to complete their training at the academy.
Read ArticleJanuary 26, 2026
Amid ‘Catastrophic’ Shortage, Psychologists Flee Federal Prisons in Droves
The federal prison system has a significant shortage of psychologists, and longtime bureau employees say the effect is catastrophic. According to the Bureau of Prisons, more than one-third of psychologist positions are unfilled, the highest vacancy rate in at least a decade.
This problem got worse when, in early 2025, prison leaders began routinely tapping psychologists to act as prison guards, according to interviews with psychologists and incarcerated people and confirmed by the Bureau of Prisons. Psychologists are, by policy, exempted from this practice, “except in emergency situations” such as escapes or riots. They say being repeatedly pulled away from their jobs puts the agency’s core mission — preparing people to be successful when they leave prison — at risk, and threatens the foundation of their therapeutic relationship with their patients.
Read ArticleJanuary 25, 2026
Two Mississippi prisons temporarily lose power amid freezing temps from winter storm
A winter storm temporarily knocked out power at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman and Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, as temperatures plunged below freezing. Parchman is in rural Sunflower County near Tutwiler and has about 1,900 inmates. Delta Correctional is in Greenwood and houses about 300 women. Both are in areas that received snow and ice.
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