A new report from the Correctional Association of New York highlights a mixed portrait of life inside Wallkill Correctional Facility, the state’s oldest medium-security prison. The findings follow a February 2024 monitoring visit by CANY and were published this March.
Located in Ulster County, Wallkill houses men aged 18 and older and has been in continuous operation since 1933. CANY’s report is based on interviews with incarcerated individuals, site observations, administrative data, and meetings with staff.
While the report praised Wallkill for its vocational programs and relatively low rates of abuse, it flagged serious concerns around healthcare delivery and facility conditions. Most notably, Wallkill had the lowest proportion of inmates reporting that they received medication as prescribed, compared to other prisons surveyed. The prison lacks an on-site pharmacy, which staff said complicates medication access and follow-up care.
Despite being fully staffed in health services, Wallkill also faced complaints about delays in specialty care and poor communication around test results. While sick calls were generally timely, only 47% of respondents said they received medications as prescribed, the lowest rate among facilities in the study.
CANY found that Wallkill’s staff-inmate interactions were largely positive. The facility had the lowest reported rate of staff abuse among the state’s medium-security prisons. Inmates also reported improvements in family visitation policies, allowing closer contact with children.
Programs such as industrial optics training and horse handling received strong praise from inmates. However, long waitlists for enrollment and idle time due to staffing shortages were common concerns. Wallkill ranks lower than comparable facilities in terms of access to academic and vocational programs.
Basic services also presented mixed results. Food portions were widely seen as adequate—the highest satisfaction rate in the sample—but phone access was more limited than at other prisons. Commissary issues were notable due to Wallkill’s reliance on a neighboring facility for supplies, which led to frequent out-of-stock items and no option for substitutions.
Material conditions added to the strain. Some housing areas suffered from disrepair, and Wallkill had the lowest percentage of inmates reporting access to clean drinking water outside the commissary.
CANY Executive Director Jennifer Scaife said the report “offers insights into the strength of programming, medical care, and access to basic services at Wallkill Correctional Facility, while highlighting the challenges of operating a modern institution inside a century-old facility.”
The full report is available at www.correctionalassociation.org.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].