Prisons in the Czech Republic are overcrowded, and their staffs are overloaded with administrative tasks and cannot pursue the work with inmates. The country's ombudsman is urging the government to change its policy. "It is desirable to make more use of alternative penalties and seek to correct the offender through voluntary atonement," says Ombudsman Anna Šabatová. For example, the penalty for failure to pay alimony should lead a convict to start paying, but in prison and after release, a convict's social situation usually worsens, making it less possible to pay alimony.