The Houston Chronicle’s recent investigation into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s costly spending on transportation and lodging to address staffing shortages highlights the growing national crisis of prison understaffing. In 2023, Texas spent nearly $14 million to shuttle and house corrections officers to keep facilities operational that couldn't be staffed locally. As the number of people incarcerated has started to rise in recent years and prisons face hiring and retention obstacles, prisons across the country are more understaffed and overcrowded than ever, producing increasingly poor outcomes for corrections staff and incarcerated people alike.

The situation in Texas illustrates the urgent need to address the staffing shortage. Understaffing affects all facets of a correctional system. For incarcerated individuals, understaffing can lead to lockdowns, delayed medical care, and extended wait times for family visits, while for correctional officers, it leads to long shifts, dangerous working conditions, and extended time away from family, which contributes to increased stress, burnout, and other adverse mental and physical health impacts. Understaffing also threatens the safety of the institution, its employees, and those incarcerated, while severely limiting the availability of treatment and rehabilitation programs that prepare incarcerated people to successfully return to their homes and communities.

The challenges in Texas are not unique – they reflect a national crisis demanding immediate action. The Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign, launched by One Voice United and FAMM, two of the leading organizations advocating for corrections officers and incarcerated people and their families, aims to address this crisis in U.S. prisons, focusing on issues like understaffing, overcrowding, and deteriorating conditions.

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About Safer Prisons. Safer Communities

The Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign began in early 2024. The two founding organizations are One Voice United, which represents the voices of correctional employees, and FAMM, which represents incarcerated people and their families.

Driven by the dire conditions inside our nation's prisons, the campaign brings together seemingly unlikely allies to advocate for reforms that will improve the lives of corrections officers and incarcerated people alike, improve rehabilitation and reintegration opportunities, and enhance community safety.