Corrections agencies are facing a difficult staffing reality. From 2019 to 2022, the number of people working in state correctional systems declined by 10%, reaching its lowest level in more than two decades. Many agencies are now considering candidates who are just entering adulthood.
Hiring younger officers can bring motivated and technologically capable people into public service before they pursue other careers. Generation Z, generally defined as those born between 1997 and 2012, tends to value flexibility, regular feedback and opportunities to understand why expectations exist. Agencies can build on those strengths, but they must also assess readiness, prepare recruits honestly and provide leadership that encourages them to stay.
Here are five considerations corrections leaders should address when hiring and retaining young officers within their agencies:
1. Hire for character and readiness, not age alone
Age is an imperfect measure of maturity. Some 18- and 19-year-olds demonstrate strong judgment and professionalism, while some older applicants may not be prepared for the responsibility. The more useful question is whether a candidate has the character and life experience to work safely and fairly in a correctional environment.
Applicant screening should examine trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, concern for others and commitment to the community. Agencies should also ask what types of people candidates have encountered and how they handled those interactions. Someone moving directly from a sheltered environment into a jail or prison may have little experience with conflict, manipulation or mental illness.
A lack of life experience doesn’t necessarily disqualify an applicant, but it reveals the need for additional training. During the probationary year, supervisors can continue assessing whether the officer accepts responsibility, respects others and develops sound judgment.
2. Prepare recruits for the reality of corrections
Young recruits may have strong technical abilities and perform well on written tests and computer-based training. Corrections requires them to apply that knowledge around inmates who may be highly skilled at reading behavior, identifying vulnerabilities and testing boundaries.
Training should connect classroom lessons to realistic conditions. Scenarios, role-plays and carefully chosen experiences from veteran staff can show how policy applies during inmate disputes, suicide attempts, searches and interactions with people experiencing withdrawal or mental illness. These real-world examples should give recruits practical lessons they can apply on the job.
Agencies that communicate honestly, prepare recruits for the difficult parts of the job and support them after graduation can turn young applicants into capable, committed correctional officers.
Working in a correctional housing unit often requires officers to act as jugglers, managing several competing responsibilities at once. During a shift, an officer might manage sick calls, counts, meals, inmate arguments, program movements and a suicide attempt, sometimes without a partner. Recruits need opportunities to develop multitasking, observation, command presence, de-escalation and the ability to remain calm.
Telling new officers to “forget the academy” or accept an “us versus them” mindset undermines their training. Field training should reinforce policy, ethics and the expectation that officers can make a difference while maintaining boundaries.
3. Choose trainers and mentors based on merit
In an understaffed agency, many employees may have fewer than three years on the job. Leaders should look beyond tenure and identify dependable employees who manage assignments well, communicate effectively, handle inmates professionally and earn supervisors’ confidence.
Agencies can identify potential field training officers by reviewing job performance and seeking supervisor input on which officers demonstrate sound judgment and strong interpersonal skills. A relatively new employee who can be trusted wherever assigned may be a stronger trainer than a longer-serving employee who does not model agency standards.
Mentors do not need rank or a formal title. They are often the steady employees supervisors rely on when an assignment must be handled correctly. Giving them a role in developing recruits can strengthen performance while recognizing their contribution.
4. Make stress management part of officer preparation
Correctional officer stressors should be discussed during hiring, academy training and field training, not after an officer reaches a breaking point. Shift work, overtime, violence, suicide attempts and other critical incidents can take a toll. Fatigue further reduces observation, judgment and the ability to respond effectively.
Support can begin with simple, consistent contact. Recruits may also be managing significant pressures at home, such as expecting a child, arranging reliable childcare or caring for a sick parent. Instructors who regularly check in about stress, sleep and overall well-being can help recruits manage those pressures while continuing to meet performance standards.
Supervisors should watch for fatigue, anxiety and changes in performance, then act before stress becomes failure. Agencies should also normalize employee assistance programs and peer support, which can begin with a conversation during a carpool or a phone call from a colleague after a difficult shift.
5. Retain young officers through visible, consistent leadership
Recruitment will not solve a staffing shortage if capable employees leave after 1–3 years. Young employees may value wages and job security, but they also want appreciation, input, understanding when personal challenges arise and a credible path for growth.
Leaders should be approachable and consistent. When senior leaders visit a housing unit during a tense shift to check on staff, the gesture can stay with an officer long after the shift ends, reinforcing that leadership understands the work and values the people performing it.
Career development can help officers see a future with the agency. Leaders can encourage mastery of current assignments, explain that promotion takes time and offer appropriate collateral opportunities. An employee with strong technology skills, for example, might rotate through an information technology assignment.
Family support matters, too. Activities that include officers’ spouses, partners and children can strengthen their support network. When families understand the pressures of corrections and available resources, officers may be better equipped for a long career.
Building a professional corrections workforce
Hiring young correctional officers should not mean relaxing standards or assuming every candidate from the same generation has identical needs. It means widening the recruitment pipeline while remaining deliberate about character and training.
Corrections is a people profession that offers steady employment, career development, teamwork and the opportunity to influence lives. Agencies that communicate that purpose honestly, prepare recruits for the difficult parts of the job and support them after graduation can turn this generation’s young applicants into capable, committed correctional officers.
