Old and Behind Bars

We have previously written about the topic of elder inmates and the implications for prisons with the graying of the prison population. Here is one more story on the topic, published March 17, 2016. Pew Charitable Trust’s Stateline (which “provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy….”) ran the story, Elderly Inmates Burden State Prisons.

Nearly every state is seeing that upward tick in elderly state prisoners. In Virginia, for example, 822 state prisoners were 50 and over (corrections officials usually consider old age for prisoners to begin at 50 or 55) in 1990, about 4.5 percent of all inmates. By 2014, that number had grown to 7,202, or 20 percent of all inmates.

For state prisons, the consequence of that aging is money, more and more of it every year. Health care for aging prisoners costs far more than it does for younger ones, just as it does outside prison walls. Corrections departments across the country report that health care for older prisoners costs between four and eight times what it does for younger prisoners.

In terms of reducing the number of elder inmates, according to the study, some states are using diversion programs, early release or compassionate release.  We all have heard about increasing longevity, but that doesn’t necessarily explain the rise in elder inmates. The story notes that correctional personnel offer two factors to explain this rise: “[o]e is a steady increase in the rate of older adults entering prison. The second, and more potent, factor is changes enacted in the get-tough-on-criminals 1990s that resulted in longer prison sentences.”

Knowing about the physical limitations some may have as they age, one can only imagine the accommodations prisons have had to make, including the use of “ramps and shower handles and … other physical modifications. Many prisons have had to create assisted living centers with full-time nursing staffs…. In addition, at least 75 U.S. prisons …, provide hospice services for dying prisoners….”

One prison mentioned in the story has an ALF, but the waiting list is such that prisoners must need assistance with 2 or more ADLs to be considered. Poor health when entering prison is not unusual. And being old and in prison may be even tougher than for younger inmates.

Prison is a particularly treacherous place to get old. Getting to a top bunk is difficult for many aging prisoners, as is climbing stairs. Hearing loss, dementia and general frailty can make it difficult to comprehend or obey rules. And being infirm in an institution full of young predators can make older prisoners vulnerable. “If there’s an old lion or gazelle… the young ones are going to take advantage.”

Once they get out, finding a place to go becomes another challenge according to the article. Some states have taken different approaches to deal with the graying prison population, from financing the facilities that provide the needed care (such as a dementia unit in the prison) to  contracting with a private facility to provide the care to “geriatric conditional release.”

And what about the likelihood of reoffending?  “Studies have found that older ex-offenders are less likely than younger ones to commit additional crimes after their release. But politicians and the public don’t seem willing to release former murderers, rapists and sex offenders, even though they are decades removed from their crimes and physically incapable of repeating them….”