Opinion | Mandatory overtime at Michigan prisons pushing workers to the edge
June is Men's Mental Health Month, but that rings hollow for the men working inside Michigan Department of Corrections facilities.
The state’s mandatory overtime policies — which can require 16-hour shifts and five- and sometimes six-days workweeks — mean many are unable to be present for the very moments that matter most: bedtime stories, ball games, and everyday memories.
The men working behind the walls of Michigan's prisons, especially at Chippewa Correctional Facility, are not just guards. They are fathers. Now, they are being pushed past the breaking point by a system that demands everything and gives nothing in return.
This is not just a staffing crisis. It is a mental health crisis. And it is robbing a generation of men of the chance to be the kind of fathers they want to be.
These men want to be present, but are pushed to the point of numbness and your nervous system is stuck in survival mode. These men are feeling that loss every single day.
Many are silently battling anxiety, burnout, and depression. And worse? Most of them don't have the time or energy to even acknowledge what's happening to them.
“I'm not OK,” one father told me, holding back tears. “I am missing their childhood but for them, it's all they have ever known, and that's not OK.”
This isn't about a lack of resilience. These men show up. Day after day. Not because they are OK, but because they believe in their families, their coworkers, their communities. But belief can only carry a person so far before the wear and tear becomes permanent.
Some have left their jobs. But those who stay do not stay for the paycheck. They stay because they care. Because they know if they go, the burden falls on the next father.
What do we owe the men who protect our communities and sacrifice their own time so others can sleep safely? At the very least, we owe them accessible work-life balance, accessible mental health resources, and policy reform that acknowledges they are human, not machines.
Emotional support alone isn't enough. Michigan needs to take action: offering hazard pay and competitive incentives to bring in new recruits and passing currently stalled pension legislation that gives these men and their families long-term stability.
Now, we're not just losing officers to burnout. We're losing fathers to a system that keeps stealing their best years.
This crisis isn't just measured in endless shifts. It's measured in missed moments. It's time for Michigan to stop asking these men to choose between their job and their families.
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