Families face upheaval after proposal to close Rockview state prison. ‘It’s torture’
Families of Rockview state prison workers are grappling with anxiety, frustration and shock as the aging facility’s proposed closure threatens their livelihoods.
The recommendation from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has put the futures of about 660 workers in limbo, forcing them to consider whether to uproot their lives and follow new job opportunities, endure long commutes or leave their profession altogether.
While the state Department of Corrections has said every affected staff member will be guaranteed a job offer at their existing pay and classification, it’s been little consolation to some families.
“It’s just torture. It’s torture,” Natasha Frank, whose husband has worked at Rockview for about a decade, said in the days after the announcement. “It’s only week two and it feels like a lifetime. We have to do this for 2 1/2 more months and then it’s all going to start over again whenever we get the answer if it’s not what we want. It’s going to be sadness all over again.”
For the families who spoke with the Centre Daily Times over the past week, their quandary extends beyond job security. Corrections officers and staff are weighing potential relocations and shift changes.
Significant disruptions could require them to rearrange child care or lose precious time with their families. Several wives told the CDT their husbands spent years securing the shifts that allow them to balance work and family life.
Kalli Boone’s voice trembled as she contemplated what life could be like for her husband, who’s worked at Rockview for more than 11 years, and their two young sons.
“It would almost make me feel as a single mom,” Boone, of Clinton County, said. “... If he has to go to the 2-10 (p.m.) shift, I’m at home alone with my boys. I’m figuring it out by myself, so it’ll make me feel like a single mom.”
Sierra Watkins, who lives in Spring Township with her husband who’s worked at Rockview for about nine years, said the proposal has left her “more scared than anything.”
As someone who works in health care, Watkins said she and her husband have been able to save thousands of dollars per month by not sending their two young children to day care. Whether that continues remains to be seen, much like some of their summer traditions.
“We like to go camping as a family; the kids love to go camping. We might not get to do that as much. We take a beach vacation every year,” Watkins said. “... Maybe we won’t be able to do that anymore. We won’t be able to get to do the things that we love as a family together.”
Why is the state pursuing this?
While families worry about the personal toll, Shapiro’s administration has pitched the proposal as a way to save the state tens of millions of dollars.
A committee that recommended the closures pointed to shrinking state prison populations, high vacancy and turnover rates among corrections officers and massive overtime payments.
Rockview is the second-oldest among the nearly two dozen in the DOC system and the agency has said the prison would require $74 million in upgrades over the next five years if it were to remain open.
More than a dozen people who responded to a CDT questionnaire said some of the projects listed as necessary in a DOC memo have already been completed, but the agency stood by its report Tuesday.
“All state correctional institutions, including SCI Rockview, require and receive ongoing maintenance,” a DOC spokeswoman wrote in an email. “Projects have been done in recent years at Rockview to keep the facility operational, but there are still tens of millions of dollars worth of repairs that would be required if it were to remain open.”
All job offers from the DOC would keep workers within 67 miles of Rockview or Quehanna. Benner Township state prison is on the same grounds, but it’s expected that only a fraction of people who work at Rockview will be able to transfer there.
While that gives workers somewhat of a safety net, the agency’s assurance says nothing about shift changes or commute times. That stung Christina LoDuca, who said she and her husband who’s worked at Rockview for about 10 years moved to Bellefonte because of his job.
The DOC has not stated publicly how Rockview employees will be given preference to transfer to Benner or any other state prison, but many assume it will be based on seniority.
“It’s obviously upsetting that we specifically relocated to a different county, bought our house — so it’s not like we’re renting and we can easily relocate again to be closer to his job — and now if he doesn’t have enough time to get into Benner we’re going to be pretty much right back where we started 10 years ago,” LoDuca said. “It creates a lot of anxiety.”
Some push for the proposal to be scrapped
Family members of employees aren’t the only ones hopeful the state will reconsider its decision.
Centre County’s commissioners and state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, have said they plan to advocate for Rockview and Quehanna to remain open. Langerholc said the proposal is “shortsighted, lacks common sense, and would cripple our local economy.”
Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association President John Eckenrode, meanwhile, said the union that represents more than 10,000 workers would “vigorously fight against this misguided decision.”
Frank, of Rush Township, said she hopes the DOC’s leadership understands what it takes to work as a corrections officer.
The starting salary for the union job is $45,000, the state lowered the minimum age for trainees to 18 and only a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate is required — unlike many other jobs in the county.
“There’s a lot of them that give everything to this job. They put in a lot of hours. They signed up to sacrifice time with their family because they wanted to work at Rockview,” Frank said. “It’s just sad that they’re not fighting for it as hard as the men and women are because you really don’t hear anything from the DOC. It’s very disappointing that these men and women give everything just to be tossed out.”
State law requires the DOC to host a public hearing in Centre County by mid-May at the latest. No such hearing has been announced as of Wednesday, though state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, has scheduled a series of public input sessions. The soonest Rockview could close is Sept. 10.
Even though the proposal is not final, some families have said the waiting has already taken a toll. Chelsea Reese, whose husband has worked at Rockview about 7 1/2 years, is among those hoping the state will reconsider.
“It’s a huge wrench,” Reese said. “A lot of things in life are not fair, but I just think it’s so unfair for all of these guys and women who have worked so hard to be where they’re at, to support their families in the way that they are to now be completely just upended.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 5:11 AM.