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For 23 years, I have researched, built training curricula and wellness programs, and provided training and clinical services to correctional staff. After decades of hearing correctional professionals across job roles and ranks describe the unvarnished realities of their work, one conclusion is unavoidable: meaningful prison reform cannot succeed unless we first invest in the health and resilience of correctional staff. We say we want prison reform, and in principle there is broad agreement on what that entails: humane living conditions, reduced violence, effective rehabilitation, and services that enable people to serve their sentences constructively, and return to the community in better condition than when they entered custody. Yet despite decades of commissions, reports, and policy initiatives, durable reform remains elusive. The problem is not a shortage of recommendations; it is our persistent failure to confront fundamental realities of how prisons actually operate. Prisons are run by people. And the people who most directly determine whether reform succeeds or fails are correctional officers. Correctional officers interact with [...]

Q: What elements make a peer support program effective in a corrections environment? A: An effective peer support program in corrections relies on multiple interconnected elements that ensure safety, professionalism, and sustainability: Clear and relevant policies: Programs need thoroughly developed policies that are reviewed at least annually. These should outline team member selection and removal, define roles and responsibilities, and provide protocols for handling high-risk situations, such as interactions with suicidal or homicidal staff. Clear policies set expectations, promote consistency, and protect both staff and the organization. Strong leadership oversight: Effective programs require oversight at both the clinical and operational levels. Leaders ensure that the program aligns with organizational goals, maintains professional standards, and receives appropriate support, while also monitoring outcomes and addressing challenges. Comprehensive initial and ongoing training: Peer supporters must receive robust training not only at the start but continuously throughout their tenure. Training should cover professional boundaries, crisis intervention, recognition of high-risk situations, and strategies for self-care. This ensures that peer [...]

Imagine a wooden barn on a farm. On the surface, it may appear solid and stable, but hidden within the walls, termites have quietly weakened the structure. Now imagine a violent storm—howling winds and torrential rain—striking the barn. The walls groan, windows rattle, and the structure rocks and quivers under the relentless force, each gust threatening to bring it down. What is the probability the barn will remain standing versus collapsing? And what does this have to do with suicide? This scenario illustrates the Fluid Vulnerability Theory of suicide (Rudd, 2006),¹ which describes the factors that contribute to suicide risk and why predicting suicidal behavior is so difficult. The theory proposes that suicide risk is fluid and dynamic, fluctuating based on the interaction of two types of risk factors: Baseline risk factors – Chronic, relatively stable vulnerabilities such as a history of trauma or mental illness, family history of mental illness, persistent negative thinking patterns, or past suicide attempts. Acute risk factors – Stressors [...]

Budgets in Corrections Are there any other words in administrative conversations that trigger a deeper collective groan? Probably not. Is “the budget” referenced almost daily—if not hourly—in our field? Absolutely. Do we blame nearly everything on waning budgets? Far more often than we’d like to admit. Do we have significant influence over how much is spent where? Almost never. And yet, year after year, the amount of money spent on issues that were preventable is astronomical—far exceeding the costs of the proactive measures that could have stopped them in the first place. Throughout my career, I’ve heard the reasons for delaying or denying preventative investments. I don’t dismiss those reasons; they’re valid, and they reflect real constraints. But there is a fine line between reasons and excuses. As a field, we have a long track record of finding money for the things we have to do. Take PREA as an example. When we were told we had to comply—at [...]

One of the most urgent challenges corrections faced in 2025 was the widening gap between widespread recognition of the need for staff wellness and the resources allocated to support it. Leaders across the country increasingly acknowledged that correctional staff—particularly custody staff—are experiencing extreme levels of anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep disruption, substance misuse, and suicide risk. These conditions are almost certainly contributing to the profession’s epidemic-level turnover.Yet many wellness efforts remained under-resourced, short-lived, and shaped by “low-hanging fruit” or well-intentioned initiatives rather than evidence of effectiveness. Wellness coordinators—when designated—were asked to address systemic challenges without adequate funding, training, authority, data, or personnel. Agencies understandably hoped these efforts might help counter years of stress, trauma, understaffing, and organizational strain through goodwill, limited programming, and occasional “feel-good” events. Given these constraints, results were often modest at best, reflecting limitations in scale, design, and sustained investment rather than any question of the relevance of wellness to job performance. When outcomes fell short, some leaders misattributed this [...]

Positive news about morale and retention in the law enforcement field is rare. Yet, that’s exactly what the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico reported in a recent media release announcing the successful completion of its six-month pilot of the “4/8/40 Work Well Live Well” schedule, launched on October 5, 2024. The innovative model—four 8-hour shifts totaling 40 hours per week—was offered to patrol deputies as an opt-in/opt-out option. What made this pilot truly groundbreaking was that participating deputies received up to two hours of administrative leave per shift dedicated to physical and mental wellness activities. Performance and productivity data were tracked and compared to corresponding periods in 2023 and 2024. Results from the October 2024–April 2025 pilot were striking: Overtime hours decreased by 53%. Vacancy rates dropped dramatically—from 24% in August 2024 to 3%. Average satisfaction scores among opt-in deputies reached 88/10, peaking at 9.27/10 in March 2025. Deputy-initiated calls for service rose by 69%. Traffic citations grew by 84%. Traffic stops increased by 94%. Motor vehicle crashes declined by 20%, attributed to heightened enforcement activity. Response [...]

The man next door is a strange one. On the outside he appears to be the same as you and me, but there are signs that he is different from you and me. He’s quiet. And he never stops scanning his surroundings. When you talk to him, he never looks into your eyes for long. He is always looking around. Whenever possible, he stands with his back against a wall. I wonder about this man with the guarded look in his eyes and a sadness that I hope and pray is never in mine. We went out to eat one time and he was almost rude in making sure he sat where his back was to a wall and he could see all entryways. As I grew to know and understand this man, I couldn’t help but think, but he seems so nice? He was so gentle with little children and animals. With grown-ups, he was sometimes short, harsh. [...]

It is not uncommon for peer support teams (PSTs) to be trained and deployed solely to assist staff affected by critical incidents. These are typically defined as incidents involving violence, injury, or death (VID)—whether the death occurred from natural or unnatural causes. In essence, the term refers to highly stressful, life-threatening, and potentially psychologically traumatizing events. However, limiting peer support to critical incidents only has several important drawbacks. Below are four reasons why this approach falls short. Limited reach. Usually, only staff who were physically present during the incident are approached by the PST. Inconsistent definitions. Different agencies may define “critical incidents” in varying ways. As a result, some VIDs may trigger a peer support response while others do not—even though the excluded events may also be deeply traumatizing. Unrecognized secondary impact. Staff who were not physically present may still be profoundly affected. Examples include: Employees whose friends were assaulted, even if they work at another facility. Those triggered because the event reminds them [...]

A Series on Correctional Staff Suicide Risk and Paths to PreventionAt Desert Waters, the issue of correctional staff suicide remains at the forefront of our minds. We continue to receive messages from across the country about staff who have died by suicide. We cannot simply read the news and move on. A concerted, proactive effort is needed—one that goes far beyond a one-hour training on recognizing the signs of suicidal thinking.With this article, we begin a series examining the complex and interrelated factors that increase correctional staff’s risk for suicide—and exploring what can be done to reduce that risk and strengthen protective factors. This series has several goals:To address the multifaceted causes of correctional staff suicideTo examine the interplay between individual vulnerabilities and occupational stressorsTo challenge stigma surrounding mental health struggles and seeking supportTo promote systemic change by fostering healthier, more supportive workplace cultures—with policies and resources that protect and sustain staff well-beingTo advance prevention strategies that strengthen constructive coping skills and resilienceWhen Strength Becomes a Trap: How Correctional Culture [...]

Most people would say that what they want from life is to be happy. But what is the best recipe for happiness? The Study of the Good Life Thanks to the 85-year Harvard Study of Adult Development, we now have compelling evidence about the source of happiness—and its powerful impact on health and longevity. Directed by Robert Waldinger, MD, and Marc Schulz, PhD, and described in their book The Good Life: Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, this study has followed three generations—over 2,000 people—for eight and a half decades. While many assume happiness comes from money, success, or status, this long-term research found otherwise: Happiness is rooted in social connectedness—in love and caring relationships. Participants who invested in strong, supportive relationships were the happiest and the healthiest. To summarize: “The study found that the people who stayed healthiest and lived longest were the people who had the strongest connections to others. The warmth of these connections had a direct positive impact [...]