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The wildcat prison strikes may be over, but the crisis continues inside New York’s prisons. Programs have been shut down. Community organizations have been locked out. Visits are now restricted.

People inside are scared, especially those preparing for release. With programs cut and resources stretched thin, the fear isn’t solely about safety; it’s about what happens next. For many, that anxiety stems from not knowing how they’ll meet even their most basic needs once released.

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We have lived through that uncertainty. During our collective 50 years in the custody of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, we often watched people walk out with nothing — no housing, no money, no proper identification and no guidance on what to do next. Many of them returned just months later. It happened so often........

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