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prison understaffing

In 2020, Los Angeles County approved reforms meant to close the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, pictured here in 2023, but this week local officials declared an emergency in order to assign other workers to help staff the facility.
Closing Argument December 21
While Youth Detention Numbers Rise, States Begin to Roll Back Reforms
Los Angeles County is one of many places that have struggled to maintain safe conditions for youth and seen reform efforts stall or be abandoned.
By
A White man can be seen through the back of a wooden dining-table chair.
Inside Story October 10
Toll of Prison Staff Shortages on Guards, Prisoners and Their Families
Prison staff shortages impact guards, prisoners and their families, and comedian Donnell Rawlings talks about his connection to the system.
By and
A lone correctional officer walking in a prison cell block while incarcerated people are confined in their cells.
Investigate This July 25
How to Investigate the Trend of Declining Prison Staff and Deteriorating Conditions Behind Bars
Our toolkit helps you report on how this employment crisis impacts safety and local budgets in your state.
By The Marshall Project
Colette Peters, a White woman in a red suit jacket and short brown hair, speaks, as Michael Horowitz, a White man in a navy suit jacket and white hair, looks on.
Closing Argument March 2
How Federal Prisons Are Getting Worse
Government watchdog agencies found hundreds of preventable deaths and excessive use of solitary confinement.
By and
An illustration shows a correctional officer in uniform standing among four cardboard cutouts of correctional officers. A sketch of a prison is visible in the background.
News September 18, 2023
Mississippi Auditor: Prison Company Must Pay $2 Million for No-Show Workers
A 2020 investigation by The Marshall Project exposed how prison operator MTC billed the state millions for ghost workers.
By and
A brick sign that reads "Louisiana State Penitentiary" and "Secretary James LeBlanc" located in front of the prison's entrance.
Closing Argument August 13, 2022
Confronting America’s ‘Cruel and Unusual’ Juvenile Detention Crisis
From Texas and Louisiana to communities in Iowa and Michigan, the way youth are being detained is prompting calls for change.
By
Members of the National Guard headed into the Marion Correctional Institution in Marion, Ohio, to help during the COVID-19 pandemic on April 20, 2020.
News December 21, 2020
The National Guard Is Using Force on Prisoners After Little Training
Ohio guard members patrolling inside prisons trained for a fraction of the 5 weeks required of correction officers.
By
An illustration shows a correctional officer in uniform standing among four cardboard cutouts of correctional officers. A sketch of a prison is visible in the background.
Feature December 9, 2020
No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions
Prisoners, guards face danger from chronic understaffing by MTC
By and
Three out of five prisoners who were stabbed or beaten to death last week in Mississippi prisons were at the State Penitentiary in Parchman.
News January 8, 2020
Mississippi Prison Killings: Five Factors Behind the Deadly Violence
Understaffing, powerful gangs and constant lockdowns brew tensions that exploded last week.
By and
The Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, where Jeffrey Epstein was held before he was found dead of an apparent suicide.
News August 14, 2019
Epstein’s Death Highlights A Staffing Crisis in Federal Prisons
A hiring freeze by the Trump administration shrank the federal prison workforce at twice the rate of the declining prison population.
By and
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