(The Center Square) – The state’s prison system still faces a worker shortage, but the future looks brighter, state officials said Tuesday.
Laurel Harry, acting secretary of the Department of Corrections, told the Senate Appropriations Committee that unfilled positions shrank over the last year by roughly two percentage points thanks to stepped up recruitment efforts at colleges, job fairs, and outreach to military members.
She said about 750 positions remain unfilled because it’s hard to attract workers who could make more money elsewhere. It continues a longstanding trend, mentioned during last year’s budget hearings, that spikes employee costs. In the coming year, Harry anticipates the department will spend $148 million paying overtime.
“The reality is there are other positions in the community that folks can work,” Harry said. “And so corrections isn’t always the most appealing option for people.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposes $2.9 billion for the department, representing a 5.9% increase. Mandatory overtime costs alone have risen 22% in the last year, Harry said, though she hopes benefit packages and upward mobility offered in the system will reverse the trend.
“The goal is that, obviously, as we fill our vacancies, that we will see that number go down,” she said. “And we feel like we have a good plan in place.”
As of March, just over 38,000 individuals remain incarcerated across 23 state-run prisons – down from more than 45,000 just before the pandemic. Data shows most facilities are nearly full, with only three reporting less than 80% capacity.
While closing down one of the prisons may save between $50 million and $100 million, the state would still incur the added expense of building carrying costs and mandatory overtime until displaced staff found other positions within the system.
Harry said that lingering pandemic impacts – from ongoing outbreaks to a backlogged court system – could mean the decrease isn’t permanent.
“So for us, we would have to make sure we’d evaluate all of those things before we would make any type of decision about a closure,” she said.
