Resources

Resources below provide tools, examples, and learning opportunities to help state departments of corrections strengthen workforce planning, improve data capacity, and support safer, more stable corrections environments.

Data and Workforce Assessment

The Safe Inside Data and Workforce Assessment helps departments of corrections evaluate their capacity to use data for workforce planning and decision-making. It provides tailored recommendations for strengthening data systems and workforce strategies.

Why take the assessment?
  • Establish a baseline for data collection and reporting around staffing, safety, and wellness
  • Identify where stronger data capacity could improve outcomes
  • Receive a concise summary of recommendations with practical next steps
  • Access optional technical assistance and opportunities to learn from peer states

Completing the assessment takes less than an hour and can be done individually or as a team. Your results remain confidential and are used only to help your agency plan for improvement.

‍This is the first step toward building a safer, more data-informed corrections workforce.

‍

Go to the Data and Workforce Assessment

Myriad Recruitment and Retention Strategies

The table below summarizes examples of recruitment, hiring, and workforce support strategies currently being implemented by state departments of corrections.

Recruiting

  • Post jobs via print, online, radio, TV
  • Use online job hubs, virtual fairs
  • Attend job fairs and recruiting events
  • Offer staff referral incentives
  • Partner with labor agencies, schools
  • Leverage social media, texting, digital tools
  • Sponsor ads on Indeed, LinkedIn
  • Develop or hire recruiters
  • Recruit through community networks
  • Empower individual facilities to hire directly

‍

Hiring

  • Lower minimum age requirements
  • Reduce education requirements (HS/GED)
  • Ease state residency rules
  • Hire legal permanent residents
  • Implement one-day, one-stop hiring
  • Streamline or eliminate pre-employment testing
  • Shorten career ladders for faster promotion
  • Credit prior tenure toward seniority
  • Use internships as hiring pathways

‍

Other Perks

  • Expand benefits
  • Offer flexible scheduling
  • Provide tuition repayment
  • Expand employee assistance programs
  • Improve quality of life policies
  • Enhance employee support services
  • Involve staff in decision-making
  • Highlight employee achievements
  • Invest in ongoing professional development

Other Initiatives Focused on Corrections Workforce Trends

Just Leadership Podcasts

  • Prison Health & Safety
    Conversation with Ronald Simpson-Bey (JustLeadershipUSA), Dr. Aaron Kinzel (University of Michigan), and Rob Jeffries (Nebraska Department of Correctional Services)
  • Transforming Prison Cultures & Climates
    Conversation with Ronald Simpson-Bey, Heidi Washington Michigan Department of Corrections), and Brian Morrison (Michigan Department of Corrections)
  • Improving the Safety, Culture, and Climate Within Our Nation’s Prisons
    Conversation with Ronald Simpson-Bey (JustLeadershipUSA), Andy Potter (One Voice United), and Jennifer Scaife (Correctional Association of New York)

This project was supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-23-GK-05377-MUMU awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.  The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office.  Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Additional support for this effort has been provided by Arnold Ventures and is conducted in partnership with the Correctional Leaders Association.

Photography and images courtesy of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC), and Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), unless otherwise noted.