The need for oversight of prisons is

As Urgent Today as it was 175 Years Ago

CANY is the only independent organization in New York with authority under state law to monitor prisons. Our access creates a platform for those most affected by incarceration to shape the public debate.

Today, the Correctional Association of New York (CANY) released a report that highlights widespread distrust

Of the prison-based healthcare system managed by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and offers insight into the drivers of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among incarcerated people. As of December 23, 2021, only 16,050 or 52.2% of the prison population had accepted at least one dose of the vaccine (compared to roughly 85% of the general population in New York State).

Since the onset of the pandemic, CANY has monitored the impact of COVID-19 on people in prison, including incarcerated people’s access to and attitudes toward vaccinations in prison. CANY conducted monitoring visits to eight prisons between July 2020 and June 2021 and distributed a survey by mail regarding vaccine hesitancy to incarcerated people.

Our findings highlight that vaccine hesitancy is rooted in incarcerated people’s prior negative experiences with the prison healthcare system, a system-wide lack of trust in DOCCS administration and medical staff, and the history of medical experimentation on incarcerated populations. One incarcerated person voiced his hesitancy to be vaccinated this way: “As an incarcerated individual my greatest fear is to be a lab rat for the state.”

In an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 in state prisons and combat vaccine hesitancy among incarcerated individuals, CANY recommends that the State of New York decarcerate prisons to limit the spread of COVID-19, comprehensively reform access to medical care in prisons, and address substandard care by expanding the Department of Health’s existing power to oversee the administration of health care in prisons.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed significant deficiencies and limitations in DOCCS’s ability to limit the spread of illness in prisons, provide adequate medical care, and respond to emergent health crises in prisons. In light of COVID-19 outbreaks at several DOCCS facilities and rising deaths, it is imperative that policymakers implement CANY’s recommendations to improve the health outcomes of incarcerated individuals.

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Featured Work

Three State Prison Report

CANY, along with the John Howard Association of Illinois and the Pennsylvania Prison Society, have produced a collaborative report comparing the responses of the prison systems in three states to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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5-PART Parole documentary

In the Fall and Winter of 2019-2020, CANY conducted a survey about the parole process with 1,994 incarcerated people across 49 New York State prisons who had gone before a parole board and been denied parole at least one time previously. As an accompaniment to the survey, CANY curated a 5 part documentary series, in which CANY aims to unpack the true nature of New York State’s parole process as told by those with lived experience.

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Attica Virtual Exhibit

Attica is Every Prison | 50 Years Later: Reforms, Repercussions, and Remembering. To remember the Attica Uprising on its 50th anniversary, CANY held a virtual exhibition with New York State Museum, and a short documentary film produced by David Kuhn.

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Today, 48,000 people are incarcerated in New York's 54 prisons – the sixth largest prison system in the country. Our work is informed by the experiences of people in prison – focused on dignity, health, and legitimacy.

Who we are

CANY plays a critical and unique role in criminal justice reform. We provide independent oversight of New York’s prisons by conducting in-person monitoring visits, during which we speak extensively with incarcerated people and corrections staff, and by confidentially communicating with incarcerated people about their experiences through the mail, one-on-one interviews, and collect phone calls.

What we are working toward

We urge the public to fundamentally rethink the nature and purpose of incarceration. In our vision for the future, the criminal justice system no longer targets African Americans and other people of color through mass incarceration. Far fewer people are incarcerated and for shorter periods of time. Read more about our vision here.

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How we get there

Our goal is to use our unique access to promote true transparency and accountability. We create a platform for those most affected to directly share their experiences; we document and disseminate information about system trends; and we advocate for reform at individual prisons and at the system level.

Incarcerated People’s Experiences with New York’s Parole System

Watch the 5-Part Documentary Series

Fact Sheets

Women in New York prisons have histories of trauma and violence, profound physical and mental health needs, and experience significant challenges while incarcerated.
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The number of people incarcerated in New York is declining, but those in prison are staying for much longer periods of time.
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On an average day, around 2,600 people are in solitary confinement in New York’s prisons.
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A significant portion of those eligible for parole are being denied—some multiple times.
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