Amid ‘Catastrophic’ Shortage, Psychologists Flee Federal Prisons in Droves

Date:  02-03-2026 With fewer and fewer employees to run the prisons, psychologists were repeatedly forced to act as guards.

From The Marshall Project: The federal prison system has a significant shortage of psychologists, and longtime bureau employees say the effect is catastrophic. According to the Bureau of Prisons, more than one-third of psychologist positions are unfilled, the highest vacancy rate in at least a decade. This problem got worse when, in early 2025, prison leaders began routinely tapping psychologists to act as prison guards, according to interviews with psychologists and incarcerated people and confirmed by the Bureau of Prisons. Psychologists are, by policy, exempted from this practice, “except in emergency situations” such as escapes or riots. They say being repeatedly pulled away from their jobs puts the agency’s core mission — preparing people to be successful when they leave prison — at risk, and threatens the foundation of their therapeutic relationship with their patients. When “there's nobody to deal with crises because we're all working correctional posts, that's a problem,” said one psychologist who resigned in September. Continue reading >>>