Maine’s Efforts to Improve Prison Conditions and Public Safety

Prisons in Maine have become a leading model for rehabilitative correctional practices that promote safety and human dignity.

The United States has reckoned with major crises in its prisons in recent decades, including high levels of violence, deteriorating conditions, and severe staffing deficits. This sorry state of prisons, along with high recidivism rates, has prompted some correctional leaders to embrace innovative solutions that improve conditions and reduce violence for the people living and working in those facilities.

As part of its national prison reform initiative, the Brennan Center highlighted how state correctional departments, including in Maine, are overcoming limited funding and resources to improve prisons for staff and incarcerated people, while also building greater public safety. Researchers continue to build its prison reform research through an in-depth analysis of Maine’s correctional reforms.

In 2024, Brennan Center researchers partnered with the Maine Department of Corrections to study the 2022 statewide rollout and initial descriptive results of the Maine Model of Corrections. This statewide initiative reorients the department towards “rehabilitation, mutual respect, human dignity, and community reintegration.” Key components include improving staff-resident interactions, increasing higher education and remote work opportunities, and expanding Medication Assisted Treatment for opioid use. It also introduced Earned Living Units in facilities, which are specialized housing dorms that grant residents greater privileges and access to more programs and job opportunities as a reward for good behavior.

In this independent study, researchers were given unprecedented access to leadership, staff, and incarcerated people in three flagship facilities that include both intake sites for people recently sentenced and higher security sites for people with longer sentences — the Maine State Prison, the Maine Correctional Center, and the Women’s Center. Together, these facilities house over 65 percent of the state prison population. (Of note, reentry facilities that serve to transition people back to the community were not included in this study.) Researchers utilized various data sources for this study. This data and discussions with stakeholders provide the foundation for the findings and recommendations detailed in our report and appendices.

Maine Prison Study Overview

Researchers analyzed corrections administrative data available between 2017 and 2024 to understand long-term trends in violence and recidivism in years prior to and during early reform implementation. The administrative data illustrates generally positive trends between 2017 and 2024, which includes several years before the Maine Model of Corrections’ formal launch in 2022. Results from surveys and follow-up discussions suggest that reforms are achieving some key goals but also show areas for improvement.

Researchers surveyed 467 people — 117 security and programs staff and 350 incarcerated residents — to understand their perceptions of safety, quality of life, and any changes in the three abovementioned facilities. The team also conducted in-person and virtual meetings with over 200 people, including correctional leadership and officers, program staff, incarcerated people, and external advocates, to review study findings and identify top priorities and recommendations.

Key Findings

Between 2017 and 2024, facility violence in Maine fell 36 percent, measured by rates of fights and assaults between incarcerated people. (Of note, this study does not include data on sexual harassment or sexual misconduct.) Staff use of force rates also dropped 69 percent.

Maine saw declines in recidivism rates, measured as return to Maine correctional facilities three years after release. Rates improved from 31 percent for those released in 2014 to 23 percent for people released in 2022. Rates for incarcerated men and women in 2022 were similar.

Quality of Life

Sixty-seven percent of incarcerated men and 73 percent of staff reported feeling safe working or living in facilities. Notably, a lower share of incarcerated women (59 percent) reported feeling safe. Several women cited major challenges at the Women’s Center, including the lack of separate housing for residents with different security levels, few incentives for good behavior, and the prevalence of unaddressed behavioral health needs.

Incarcerated people benefit greatly from family contact both while serving time and after release, especially women, who are more likely to be a child’s primary or sole caregiver. Family engagement is a priority for Maine’s corrections department, demonstrated by its expansion of family access via tablets, phones, and in-person and virtual visits. In surveys, 63 percent of incarcerated men and 59 percent of incarcerated women reported having multiple ways to communicate with family and friends.

Staff and incarcerated people agreed that rehabilitation is the main goal of corrections, but they disagreed on whether the Maine Department of Corrections achieves it. Only 21 percent of incarcerated men and 34 percent of incarcerated women agreed that the corrections department believes in rehabilitation as a goal for corrections, compared to 78 percent of staff. Additionally, just 26 percent of staff felt involved in shaping how changes were made, despite being responsible for implementing them.

Only 43 percent of staff, 10 percent of incarcerated men, and 2 percent of incarcerated women agreed that their facility did a good job preparing residents for release. In discussions, staff and residents highlighted critical barriers to successful reentry. Staff cited high housing costs and tough job markets, and residents also stressed the need for much more time and advanced planning for transportation, jobs, and housing.

In response, staff and incarcerated people called for the following solutions:

Expand rehabilitative housing options like Earned Living Units. Many residents expressed a desire to access the benefits that come with the Earned Living Units, including freedom of movement and expanded programs and jobs. They called for more of these units to be expanded to the general population, especially at the Women’s Center where no equivalent exists.

Add programming and expand external partnerships for rehabilitation and reentry. Correction departments cannot do this work alone. Maine must continue to deepen community partnerships to meet resident needs and address reentry barriers. Strategic partners are also essential in helping residents navigate the critical shortage of housing, jobs, and social support upon release.

Engage staff and residents in developing and implementing reforms. To build buy-in and support for reforms, it is crucial to hold regular meetings between leadership, staff, and residents to discuss these changes. Leveraging existing resident advisory councils and civic groups will further help identify facility challenges and solutions.

Staffing Barriers

Seventy-seven percent of staff did not think there was enough staffing in their facility, and 47 percent agreed that the job is hard for their mental health.

To address identified staff challenges, correctional and program staff and incarcerated residents identified the following recommendations:

Continue to incentivize professional development. Both staff and residents recommended more resources for staff. These included supplemental on-the-job trainings in communication, interpersonal, and conflict-resolution skills, and specialized trainings in trauma and addiction for high-need residents. Correctional officers also said that pathways to promotion and more leadership opportunities would reward positive records and improve engagement.

Hire more staff. Staffing shortages are a persistent problem in Maine’s correctional facilities, particularly at the Maine State Prison, which is more rurally located. Without sufficient personnel, staff well-being and key responsibilities crucial to the Maine Model — such as building rapport with residents — suffer most.

Health Care

Quality correctional health care is a significant priority for the Maine Department of Corrections to serve incarcerated populations with complex health needs, including elderly people and women. Of note, Wellpath, an external provider, administers health services in the state’s correctional facilities. However, perceptions of health care revealed ongoing resident needs and gaps. Strikingly, only 20 percent of incarcerated women and 30 percent of incarcerated men, compared to 51 percent of staff, agreed that residents receive medical treatment when they need it. Staff acknowledged resident health concerns but also cited external barriers like local medication and provider shortages, which impact Maine and states across the nation. Residents shared their perceptions of a lack of responses to sick calls, long appointment wait times, and inadequate service delivery. Incarcerated women further added that the delivery of women-specific health services falls short, especially reproductive health and trauma-informed care.

Despite the corrections department’s recent efforts to address some of its health-care challenges, this is still a major area of improvement that requires further solutions:

Address health care gaps and gender-specific needs. The department must continue to address health-care gaps related to appointment wait times and the availability and quality of services. Specifically for women, the department should establish a comprehensive health-care strategy that is responsive to gender-specific needs and includes trauma-informed treatment. Such improvements will require wider solutions and significant funding to improve health access.

Lessons from Maine

Preliminary survey results are encouraging, particularly in the areas of safety, family access and staff buy-in for rehabilitation as a correctional model. But critical gaps remain. Incarcerated residents face limited access to rehabilitative programs, inconsistent staff treatment, and issues with health care. Incarcerated women may face greater gaps in safety, reentry, and health-care services. Meanwhile, staff face overwhelming service demands amid low staffing levels in certain facilities and require more training and support.

Despite these challenges, the Maine Department of Corrections has welcomed this research and future studies to inform its ongoing reforms. Specifically, the Brennan Center’s research with the department continues. Through its innovative approaches and transparency, Maine’s framework is a blueprint to improve conditions and safety for staff and incarcerated people. When correctional reform in Maine translates to promising results, incarcerated people, staff, and wider communities are all better for it.