How prison staffing shortages are driving away mental health staff
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Correctional officers are leaving their jobs at federal prisons.
And when these prisons are understaffed – psychologists and other staff are asked to act as guards.
Recent reporting from The Marshall Project says it’s pushing mental health professionals out of prisons.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Jason Fuller and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.
It was edited by Jeanette Woods and Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Federal prisons have been in crisis for years, and that fact has been documented over and over. |
| 0:05.5 | We have a system on a brink of failure. |
| 0:07.6 | That's John Wetzel back in February 2024. |
| 0:10.9 | He's the former Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections, and he was testifying to Congress about understaffing at correctional facilities. |
| 0:19.0 | Fast forward to May 2025. |
| 0:21.5 | So let me be blunt. The Bureau of Prisons is not a system in need of some minor improvements. |
| 0:30.0 | It is in need of a true reckoning. |
| 0:32.9 | Matt's Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey at a different congressional hearing. |
| 0:37.7 | The Bureau is currently operating with thousands of vacancies, including nearly 6,000 fewer staff |
| 0:46.0 | than its authorized level. This is not sustainable to go in this direction. |
| 0:51.8 | The shortages are so severe that there are not enough correctional officers to respond |
| 0:56.3 | to crises. |
| 0:57.5 | Here's Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas, also speaking in 2025. |
| 1:02.8 | Having staff like prison teachers, cooks, nurses, and monitors being forced to serve as |
| 1:08.4 | correctional officers because BOP has too few officers to actually do the job. |
| 1:14.3 | It's absolutely ridiculous. |
| 1:15.9 | Congressman Jeff Van Drew put it more bluntly. |
| 1:18.5 | Chronic understaffing and rising inmate numbers have created an increasingly unsafe environment for everyone on the inside. |
| 1:26.4 | Including psychologists. |
| 1:28.6 | Consider this. |
| 1:29.6 | Prison mental health staff are being asked to step in as guards, and it is making |
| 1:33.8 | them leave their jobs. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.