{"id":334793,"date":"2026-09-01T12:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/334793\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T12:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:24:11","slug":"nys-prison-system-is-in-crisis-its-driving-staff-away-from-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/334793\/","title":{"rendered":"NY’s prison system is in crisis. It’s driving staff away from the job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sep 01, 2026 \u2014 <\/p>\n

Emily RussellNY’s prison system is in crisis. It’s driving staff away from the job<\/p>\n

Kellan Livsey was 23 years old when he became a New York State corrections officer.<\/p>\n

Sitting at his kitchen counter in Ellenburg Depot, Livsey pulls up a photo of the day he graduated from the Training Academy in Albany.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s wearing the traditional officer\u2019s cap, a black tie, and a blue uniform. Livsey has a big smile on his face as he stands with his arms around his grandparents, both of whom also worked in corrections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His grandfather was a corrections officer in Dannemora, and his grandmother was a prison superintendent in Lyon Mountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kellan<\/a><\/p>\n

Kellan Livsey with his grandparents on the day he graduated from the Training Academy in Albany. He worked as a corrections officer for seven years before resigning this spring. Photo: Emily Russell<\/p>\n

Livsey, who is now 31 years old, looks back at the photo and sees how the job has impacted him. \u201cThe job makes you age, I\u2019ll tell you that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This spring, Livsey joined the growing list of officers who have walked away from their careers in corrections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democrats say they\u2019re doing the best they can to recruit and retain staff despite a confluence of forces. Meanwhile, Republicans blame laws that Democrats passed, and they\u2019re making that case on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

The staffing shortage in New York State, which Gov. Kathy Hochul describes as a \u201ccrisis,\u201d is likely to be a key issue as she runs for reelection against her Republican challenger, Bruce Blakeman.<\/p>\n

Stability and a good retirement<\/p>\n

When Livsey was growing up in Plattsburgh, there were eight state prisons within an hour’s drive. He felt like everyone he knew worked at a correctional facility.<\/p>\n

In a rural region like the North Country, Livsey says it was hard to pass up a stable job that paid more than most other jobs in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good money, good benefits, retirement,\u201d said Livsey. \u201cI looked into [it] and that\u2019s what I wanted for myself. At the time, it was only me. I wanted to set myself up for a good retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Two prison guards stand near a lookout tower at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Photo by Nancie Battaglia<\/p>\n

Livsey began his career at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in 2018.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, a lot would change in the prison system that would contribute to the current staffing shortage. The state continued to close prisons around New York as its inmate population kept falling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Livsey says that made the job feel unstable, like his prison could close at any minute.<\/p>\n

The debate over the HALT Act<\/p>\n

In 2021, the state passed the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, known as the HALT Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Advocates and many lawmakers applauded the new limitations on solitary confinement, but many officers have said it stripped away their ability to punish inmates for bad behavior.\u00a0 The HALT Act sparked a statewide walkout by officers last spring.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/a><\/p>\n

People protesting outside of Woodbourne Correctional in Sullivan County during the prison strike in 2025. Photo provided by Patricio Robayo, WJFF Radio Catskill <\/p>\n

After the three-week strike, thousands of corrections officers refused to return to work, so Gov. Kathy Hochul fired them, another factor contributing to today’s staffing shortage.<\/p>\n

Hochul was recently asked about the problem at a press conference. \u201cI am trying so hard to deal with the prison staffing shortage crisis, and it is a crisis,” said Hochul.<\/p>\n

Part of the problem is timing.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s prison population peaked in the late nineties. So, many officers are now hitting their 25-year mark and can retire with a full pension. Along with the thousands of officers who were fired last year, nearly 800 officers retired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hochul said she is trying all kinds of ways to close the 56% staff vacancy gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have launched a recruiting program, lowering the age for people to become corrections officers. We\u2019ve put more incentives out there, we\u2019ve changed pensions, we are doing a massive recruitment around the state,” explained the governor.<\/p>\n

\"Malone<\/a><\/p>\n

Malone is home to two state prisons– Upstate Correctional and Franklin Correctional. Photo: Emily Russell<\/p>\n

The number of new officers who graduated last year from the training academy is up more than 40%, but the state is struggling to retain those recruits. More than 660 were assigned to prisons, but by the end of the year, more than 250 had resigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to work in the prison system; they don\u2019t want to work for Kathy Hochul,” said Bruce Blakeman, a Republican from Nassau County who is running against Hochul in the governor’s race.<\/p>\n

Blakeman said if he\u2019s elected, he\u2019d address the staffing crisis by hiring back the thousands of officers that Hochul fired and get rid of the HALT Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would fully repeal it,” said Blakeman. “We got along fine without the HALT Act in New York State.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effects of solitary confinement<\/p>\n

But prison advocates say rolling back the HALT Act would make conditions worse for everyone in prison and do nothing to solve the staffing crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWidespread solitary confinement worsens people\u2019s mental health; it isolates them from their families,” said Wanda Bertram from the Prison Policy Initiative.<\/p>\n

“It makes it impossible for them to access programs that they might have been depending on for some kind of stability or improvement, and it ultimately just makes situations worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Advocates<\/a><\/p>\n

Advocates for incarcerated people rally for more prison reform. March 4, 2025. Photo provided by the Center for Community Alternatives<\/p>\n

Instead of expanding solitary, Bertram believes the state should keep shrinking the prison system by closing facilities, condensing the inmate population, and releasing elder inmates.<\/p>\n

Bertram has some sympathy for regions like the North Country that have relied on prisons to prop up rural economies, but she said that is not a reason to keep people locked up.<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s very sad what\u2019s happening to a lot of towns, now that there are fewer people in prison, which, in and of itself, is a good thing,” said Bertram, “but the solution is not to go back to the days of extreme mass incarceration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rising risks of synthetic drugs<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one more factor that\u2019s been turning people away from a career in corrections: the new dangers associated with synthetic drugs. They\u2019re finding their way into prisons through drug-soaked papers and letters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Synthetic drugs are harder to trace and can be deadly. Kellan Livsey said he was exposed to a synthetic drug last year after finding two inmates unresponsive. He said he lost consciousness and was given two doses of Narcan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Never did I think I\u2019d have a drug exposure, and anyone taking the job now, they need to be aware that, yeah, you could face possible drug exposure and ultimately you could die,” said Livsey.<\/p>\n

\"After<\/a><\/p>\n

After working for seven years as a corrections officer, Kellan Livsey resigned from the job this spring. Photo: Emily Russell<\/p>\n

That incident was part of what led Livsey to walk away from his career, one that was steeped in his family\u2019s history. He resigned as a corrections officer this spring. Livsey now drives a tractor-trailer for a company out of Plattsburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Yeah, I\u2019m working more hours than I did with corrections, but I\u2019m coming home every night,” he said.<\/p>\n

For Livsey, the benefit of that far outweighs the job security and retirement perks offered by a job in prisons.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sep 01, 2026 \u2014 Emily RussellNY’s prison system is in crisis. It’s driving staff away from the job…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16886,3777,25130,3365,80880,9,11,10,49,51,50,2310,6363,4719],"class_list":["post-334793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-corrections","tag-criminal-justice","tag-doccs","tag-economy","tag-halt-act","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-north-country","tag-plattsburgh","tag-prisons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}