New Public Dashboard Tracks Workers’ Compensation Claims, Promoting Transparency & Accountability
Tool Provides Data on New York State Correctional Workers’ Compensation Claims
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Contact: media@correctionalassociation.org
BROOKLYN, NY – As part of its mission to oversee state prisons and promote transparency, the Correctional Association of New York (CANY) today announced the launch of a new dashboard showing the rate of Workers’ Compensation Claims among New York State correctional employees as reported by the State Workers’ Compensation Board and the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). This data release builds upon CANY's commitment to promoting transparency and informed change by providing the public with easily accessible and comprehensive information about prisons in New York. This new dashboard adds to existing data on incarcerated individuals under custody, deaths in custody, staffing levels, and unusual incidents, offering a comprehensive view of the state's prisons.
Key findings of CANY’s initial analysis of this data include:
Over 100,000 days were lost to work-related incidents at state prisons in 2024. This is an average of five days per Full Time Equivalent.
The work-related incident rate in state prisons has increased 75 percent in the last five years.
In 2024, Marcy Correctional Facility had the highest number of work-related incidents per Full Time Equivalent. Bedford Hills Correctional Facility had the second-highest number of incidents per Full Time Equivalent, the highest number of lost workdays per Full Time Equivalent, and the second-highest medical costs per Full Time Equivalent.
The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) paid a total of $196 million in compensation to DOCCS employees in 2024 for incidents which took place in DOCCS facilities.
“Data transparency, including accurate and timely reporting of data, is fundamental for a safer, more accountable prison system,” said Jennifer Scaife, Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York. “Increasing transparency regarding the use of the workers’ compensation system is essential for identifying patterns and understanding the true cost of workers’ compensation claims, including placing pressure on a system already strained by staffing vacancies.”
Access CANY’s new worker's compensation dashboard here: https://www.correctionalassociation.org/data/dashboard-workers-compensation
About the Correctional Association of New York
CANY, under §146, of New York’s Correction Law, is charged with visiting and examining the state's correctional facilities to identify and report on prison conditions, the treatment of incarcerated individuals, and the administration of policy promulgated by the executive and legislature. Founded in 1844 by concerned citizens of the state and deputized by the state to provide monitoring and oversight of the state’s prisons in 1846, CANY is one of the first organizations in the country prescribed to administer civilian oversight of prisons.
