Union representing over 20,000 state employees draws attention to critical staffing shortages and outdated state facilities
Hagerstown, MD – On Wednesday, October 9, AFSCME Maryland Council 3 members who work for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS), Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and Office of the Public Defender (OPD) held a press conference to call attention to the dangerous understaffing and outdated infrastructure in state facilities. A recording of the press conference can be found here.
“Every day at the beginning of our shifts, we don’t know if we’re going to be able to go home at the end of the night. We don’t know if we’re going to be forced to work another double and go another day without seeing our families. Or worse, be wheeled to the hospital because we’ve been injured. Without enough staff, DPSCS is canceling visits from loved ones, limiting medical and psychiatric services, and running limited classes and programs, all at the expense of those who are incarcerated in these facilities,” said John Feeley, president of AFSCME Local 1772 and a Correctional Officer Sergeant at the Maryland Correctional Training Center (MCTC).
After years of disinvestment during former Governor Larry Hogan’s administration, our state now faces dangerously low staffing levels and skyrocketing vacancy rates within these facilities, impossible workloads and caseloads, and nearly $1 billion in deferred maintenance for state facilities left over from this past administration. These facilities include our state hospitals, correctional facilities, and juvenile detention facilities.
“When it comes to infrastructure, we’ve been waiting on a new roof for a long time. We’ve been told there’s money for the roof, but since the Department of General Services doesn’t have any construction supervisors available, we’ve just been left in limbo. When we’ve tried to hire additional facilities staff, they’re getting job offers from elsewhere that pay thousands more than the State does. In the meantime, we’re spending money on pricey contractors to help maintain our facilities instead of investing in full-time state jobs,” said Mike Gardner, a member of AFSCME Local 354 and Power Plant Operator at the Western Maryland Hospital Center.
“As DJS workers, we are also parents, siblings, and community members. We’re human beings with lives outside of work that have a right to work in a safe environment. We care deeply about the youth we are tasked with taking care of, but we cannot successfully transform young people’s lives if we do not have the staff, facilities, and resources to do so,” said Denise Henderson-Johnson, president of AFSCME Local 3167 and a Youth Transportation Officer for the Department of Juvenile Services.
“Our clients are suffering from staffing shortages at the institutions. They are being injured in fights and assaults in these facilities because there are not enough staff. I have clients who are in institutions where they are on lockdown 23 hours a day because there are not enough staff in the facilities to keep the recreational and education programs going. I personally have had 2 clients die because they can’t see a medical professional in time, because medical services are being outsourced,” said Marci Johnson, president of AFSCME Local 423 (Maryland Defenders Union) and an Assistant Public Defender in Baltimore City for the Office of the Public Defender (OPD).
The union’s demands for safe staffing and safe facilities include:
- A comprehensive staffing plan with a timeline and commitments to recruit, hire, and retain qualified staff for each agency, including the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS), the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), to ensure those residing in these facilities receive the enrichment and recreational programs, socialization opportunities, and ability to grow and thrive that they are entitled to. This will allow our state to reduce recidivism rates and better integrate individuals back into their communities.
- An assessment of the maintenance backlog for state facilities, including those within the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS), and the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and the creation of a plan to address these issues that includes firm time commitments for execution as well as the proper allocation of funding.
- Implementation of a comprehensive and adequate heat standard for all state facilities as well as a capital funding campaign to provide adequate and functioning air conditioning in all facilities.
- A facilities plan that includes timelines and commitment to ameliorate poor conditions in state facilities that contribute to adverse health effects for those residing and working there as well as a safety plan to reduce violence in state facilities. This also includes supporting the passage of the Davis Martinez Public Employee Safety and Health Act in memory of Parole and Probation Agent Davis Martinez who was killed during a home visit earlier this year.
This press conference follows separate staffing and workload reports published in the last two years showing the dangerous lack of staffing within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Office of the Public Defender. In April 2023, the union released a staffing analysis report focused on correctional facilities that revealed we need over 3,000 more correctional officers in order to safely keep facilities running and maintain programs for the incarcerated to reduce recidivism and reintegrate them into the community. Last year, the Office of the Public Defender concluded in its annual report that they would need to increase the number of attorneys on staff by threefold in order to meet national workload standards and be able to represent all the clients they are assigned.
“We are all bearing witness to the consequences of the Hogan administration’s lack of leadership and investment in our state services. State employees are facing impossible workloads, and some of them have even had their wages stolen. At the same time, there are Marylanders that are not getting the care and help they need or the second chance that they deserve. Now is not the time for more paper and hollow plans that lack follow-through. We need action,” said Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland Council 3.
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About AFSCME Maryland Council 3
AFSCME Maryland Council 3 represents nearly 45,000 public service workers at the local, city, county, state, and higher education levels who provide the valuable public services that our communities rely on. From Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, we make Maryland happen.
