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 10, 2025
The prison population is going up as prisons struggle with staffing and overpopulation
The prison population has been creeping back upward. New laws in some states instituting harsher punishments threaten to further fill prisons, many of which are already understaffed and overcrowded.
Read ArticleJanuary 9, 2025
How Texas prisons are spending millions on a'dangerous' stang crisis as population soars
Texas prisons were so short staffed in 2023 the state spent more than $111,000 on
rental cars for correctional ofcers to drive to far-ung rural facilities to cover
temporary shifts that couldn’t be lled locally.
Once there, the guards needed a place to stay. The Texas Department of Criminal
Justice’s bill for hotels and travel meals that year came to nearly $14 million – double
what it was the year before.
Read ArticleJanuary 8, 2025
Gov. Kemp recommends adding $372 million to shore up Georgia prisons
Gov. Brian Kemp has released his recommendations for strengthening Georgia’s struggling prison system, which include an additional $372 million in state spending.
Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver said there is currently a staffing shortage of 2,600 correctional officers. Records kept by the Governor’s Office of Data Analytics show 3,326 correctional officers employed by the Georgia Department of Corrections in the 2025 fiscal year.
Read Article