Update

The Prison Society’s latest semi-annual survey of Pennsylvania county jails found that nearly half of the jails are short-staffed, in a year when the state has seen more than quadruple the average number of escapes from county facilities. In addition, it found that the practice of charging a copay for medical visits is widespread, despite the harmful effects of copays on the health of incarcerated people and the surrounding community.

Forty-one county jails answered the survey which included questions about in-person visiting, staffing levels for security and medical personnel, and chaplain services. Counties were asked to provide data for their facilities in July, 2023. The survey found:

• Nearly half of the jails that answered questions on security staffing levels had vacancy rates of 10 percent or higher for full-time security staff (17 out of 36).
• All but three of the jails that answered questions about medical copays reported charging a medical copay, typically ranging from $5 to $10 for a doctor visit, and $3 to $5 for a nurse visit (36 out of 39).
• A little more than half of the jails that answered questions on medical staffing levels reported having a full complement of full-time medical staff (14 out of 27). Allegheny, Armstrong, and Cambria were short more than 50% of their medical staff.
• Five out of 41 jails were not open for in-person visits.
• Only two jails–Allegheny County and Tioga County–offered contact visits as a general policy, where visitors can meet with their incarcerated family or friend without a physical barrier between them.
• A third of jails do not have a designated chaplain.

See responses from your local jail here.

Prisons and jails need to have sufficient staff to maintain a safe and secure environment for incarcerated people, the staff themselves, and the greater community. Eight people have escaped from Pennsylvania county jails in 2023–more than the state has seen in the previous six years combined, according to data reported to the state Department of Corrections. Most of the escapes have occurred at facilities that were short-staffed, notably in Philadelphia and Chester County. Four people have escaped from Philadelphia jails alone this year, and while the city did not answer the Prison Society’s survey, a report from a court-appointed monitor in October found that 43% of security staff positions in the jails were unfilled. Chester County Prison, where Danilo Cavalcante escaped in late August, was 27% short on full-time security staff, one of five jails in the survey that reported security staff vacancy rates of 25% or higher. The jails reporting vacancy rates of 25% or above include Armstrong, Bradford, Chester, Clinton, and Venango counties. This staffing picture in Pennsylvania county jails is similar to what the Prison Society’s survey found one year ago, suggesting that jails have made little progress recruiting and retaining enough corrections officers.

The overwhelming number of jails that charge a medical copay are going against the recommendation of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, which states that the policy “restricts patient access to care.” Only three counties–Allegheny, Union and Venango–reported not charging these fees. In addition, though they did not fill out the survey, we know that Philadelphia does not charge medical copays. Medical copays deter incarcerated people from seeking necessary medical care, which can increase the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19 inside and outside of prison walls and may result in higher overall health care costs in the long run. In recent years, state lawmakers have introduced bills to eliminate medical copays in state prisons. State Senator Camera Bartolotta said that the “co-pay creates a system where incarcerated individuals must choose between basic healthcare and everyday necessities.”

Despite research demonstrating the benefits of contact visits, particularly between incarcerated parents and their children, only two jails allowed any contact visits as a general policy. A handful of other jails will permit contact visits with children, particularly when ordered by the county's children and youth services department to do so.

The Prison Society began calling county jails on a regular basis at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to track outbreaks and what precautions were in place. We are continuing these calls on a semi-annual basis to identify other emerging issues and provide the public and jail administrators with up-to-date information on county jails statewide.