Suicides in Prison More than Doubled from 2023 to 2024
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
August 5, 2025
Contact: media@correctionalassociation.org
New Dashboard Also Shows Mental Health Caseload, Program Census, Self-Harm Incidents, and Suicide Attempts
New York, NY – The Correctional Association of New York (CANY) today released a new dashboard containing data obtained by Freedom of Information Law request from the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH). The dashboard presents monthly facility caseload and program census reports, providing transparency into the number of people receiving mental health treatment in each correctional facility, and highlighting enrollment in programs offered by OMH in facilities operated by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). Additionally, the dashboard contains information on self-harm incidents, suicide attempts, and deaths by suicide.
The new dashboard follows previously published tools tracking the incarcerated population, unusual incidents, deaths in custody, staffing levels, and worker’s compensation claims.
Key findings include:
Suicides in prison doubled in 2024. In 2024, 25 people died by suicide in New York State prisons, more than twice the number in 2023 (12), representing a 108% increase year over year. Between 2004 and 2024, there was an average of 13 suicides annually.
Suicide rates are rising as prison populations fall. The suicide rate rose from 0.24 per 1,000 people in 2013 to 0.74 per 1,000 in 2024. This represents a 208% increase, despite the overall prison population dropping from over 54,000 in 2013 to around 33,600 in 2024.
An increasing share of the prison population receives mental health treatment. The percentage of incarcerated people on the OMH caseload increased from 26% in 2022 to 29% in 2025.
Incarcerated women have higher rates of mental health issues. Women's prisons show significant portions of their populations on the OMH caseload: Bedford Hills (71%), Albion (70%), and Taconic (62%).
“CANY’s new dashboard provides visibility into yet another crisis in New York’s prisons: a dramatic increase in suicides coupled with an increasing share of incarcerated people on mental health caseloads,” said Jennifer Scaife, Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York. “The purpose of this dashboard is to provide greater transparency into this crisis so that action can be taken to reduce risk and improve outcomes.”
View CANY’s dashboard at this link here.
About CANY
The Correctional Association of New York (CANY) is an independent, non-profit organization with a legislative mandate to monitor and report on the conditions in New York State prisons. CANY was founded in 1844 and deputized by the state to provide monitoring and oversight of the state’s prisons in 1846, making it one of the first organizations in the country to administer civilian oversight of prisons. CANY conducts monitoring visits, publishes reports, and informs policy to improve conditions in New York State prisons.
