Consider This from NPR How prison staffing shortages are driving away mental health staff
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Feb 25, 2026 Alex McLaren, a former federal prison psychologist and acting National Institute of Corrections director, discusses how understaffing is reshaping prison mental health work. He recounts the loss of training pipelines and why psychologists are pulled into security roles. The conversation covers risks to inmate safety, morale, and recruitment, and what keeps staffing shortages entrenched.
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Mental Health Staff Pulled Into Guard Duties
- Reporting from The Marshall Project highlights that asking mental health staff to act as guards is pushing them out of federal prisons.
- The podcast frames the staffing shortage as forcing psychologists into correctional officer roles, prompting departures.
Psychologists Fueled Rehabilitation In Prisons
- Psychologists were once central to federal prisons' shift toward rehabilitation and reentry work.
- Alex McLaren says BOP used to be the gold standard with a robust internship pipeline that fueled evidence-based services.
Losing The Internship Pipeline Crippled Hiring
- Staffing and recruitment collapsed as BOP withdrew from the psychology internship match and lost a core pipeline.
- McLaren notes those internships provided about 80 new psychologists each year, a backbone for staffing.