Transcript Slide 1

Aging Offenders in
Corrections
Photo Credit: Tim Gruber
“You actually create victims by not letting [elderly
prisoners] go and using your
resources on rehabilitation for the ones that are going to
get out . . . . When I came
here and saw the elderly population, I said, ‘God, well,
why are they here? Our name is
Corrections to correct deviant behavior [but] there’s
nothing to correct in these guys;
they’re harmless . . . .’”
Quote from
Warden Burl Cain, Warden
Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola
Parole for the Elderly (ACLU 2012), available at http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/parole-elderly.
The Aging Population of
U.S. Prisons
2007 to 2010
– # of older prisoners (65+) in the U.S. increased
by 63%
– Older prisoners in Louisiana increased by 34 %
– The overall prison population in the U.S.
increased by 0.7%
– The overall prison population in Louisiana
increased by 4.8%
The Older Adults in Prisons
• U.S. - 26,200 prisoners are 65 years or older.
– Louisiana - 624 prisoners are 65 years or
older.
• U.S. - 124,400 prisoners are 55 years or older.
– Louisiana - 3,332 prisoners are 55 years or
older.
According to the National
Institute of Corrections, prisoners
age 50 and older are considered
“elderly” or “aging” due to
unhealthy conditions prior to and
during incarceration.
The Older Adults in Prisons
• Offenders 50 or older comprises 17% of
Louisiana DOC population.
• Of state prisoners who are 51+ years, 46.4%
have sentences ranging from more than 20
years to life.
• In Louisiana prisoners who are 50+ years, 47%
have sentences ranging from more than 20
years to life.
• Presently Louisiana defines the geriatric population as offenders that
are 50 years and older.
– 17% population
• Geriatric Population
Average age is 54.4
• Age of Conviction
Average age is 43.1 years
• Average Sentence for the Geriatric Population is 42.8 years
Why the Changes?
• Those age 55 and older tend to have
longer sentences.
• Increase in Life Sentences & use of “three
strikes” laws
• People entering prison at older age
• Early release is not commonly used
3143
1720
75
-7
9
52
22
80
+
142
70
-7
4
341
65
-6
9
60
-6
4
750
55
-5
9
3600
3000
2400
1800
1200
600
0
50
-5
4
# Geriatric Population
Current
Age: 54.2 yrs
avg. age
Sentencing for 50 and Older
Max Sent to be Served (Yrs)
Percent of
Population
0-2
4.2
3-4
7.1
5-6
10.6
7-10
13.9
11-16
10.3
17 - 20
7.1
>20
(Fixed Term)
18.4
Life
27.6
Death
0.2
Avg Sentence: 42.4 Yrs
Implications of an Aging
Population
Most Common Cause of Death
in Prison
•
•
•
•
•
Heart Disease
Cancer
Liver failure
Complications from AIDS
Respiratory Diseases
Issues of Aging Population
• Chronic Illness
– In the free world 80% of older adults have one chronic
condition
– 50% have two or more.
• In 2009 a Harvard study showed –
– 40% of the total prison population had a chronic
medical condition
– Compared to other Americans of the same age,
prisoners were –
• 31% more likely to have asthma
• 55% more likely to have diabetes
• 90% more likely to have a heart attack
Current Chronic Illnesses
Diagnosed in Louisiana Prisons
Chronic Disease
2009
2010
2011
2012
Increase in
diagnosis
Hypertension
4,346
5,132
5,323
5,409
29.6%
population
25%
Diabetes
1,178
1,192
1,256
1,300
7.1%
population
9%
Cancer
193
204
191
211
1.2%
population
9%
Heart Disease
271
285
343
305
1.7%
population
11%
Pulmonary Disease
890
1,018
1,052
1,196
6.6%
population
26%
Complications of Aging in
Prison
• Environment
– Cellblocks – heating and cooling
– Exposure walking to or waiting in line for food or pill
call
– Exposure on the yard
• Brain and Nervous System
– Can impact safety in situations requiring a quick
response
– No longer able to perform tasks they have done
throughout their lives
More than 76% of the 5,300
offenders imprisoned at the
Louisiana State Penitentiary are
expected to die there.
Costs of Care
• According to a NIC study in 2004,
taxpayers pay more than twice as much
per year to incarcerate an aging prisoner
than a younger offender.
Costs of Care
• Medical Costs for Older Prisoners
– A study done by Michigan determined the
health care costs for elderly offenders.
– Average cost $5,801
– 55-59 age group $11,000
– 80 and older $40,000
Herrman,L.(2012). U.S. prisons becoming old age homes behind bars. Accessed
May 12, 2012 from http://digitaljournal.com/article/319726#ixzz1vBOF8BSW
Prisons are not designed to be
homes for the elderly.
Options
• Compassionate Release
• Use of Infirmaries
• Retrofit areas of the prison for the
vulnerable elderly
• Build new facilities inside prison walls
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), total
health care spending in the U.S. was 15.2% of its GDP in
2008, the highest in the world.
• The Health and Human Services Department expects that
the health share of GDP will continue its historical upward
trend, reaching 19.5% of GDP by 2017. This is the only
sector which continues to grow despite the historic
economic downturn. In a nutshell, when one wants to
provide for appropriate health care to a rapidly growing,
aging offender population with unusually high health care
needs, with an accelerating increase in cost , during one
of longest streaks of budget reductions for the agencies, it
does become a daunting task.
Photo Credit: Tim Gruber
• DVD regarding Elderly and Younger population.