It's About Time: Aging Prisoners, Increasing Costs, and Geriatric Release

• NCJ Number: 232550
• Author(s): Tina Chiu
• Date Published: April 2010
• Length: 16 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Pew Center on the States
• Corporate Author: Vera Institute of Justice
• Sale Source: Vera Institute of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report provides an overview of the older prisoner population problem, provides a snapshot of release mechanisms in a number of States, and offers explanations as to why geriatric release policies are not being implemented as intended.

Abstract

As harsher policies have led to longer prison sentences, correctional facilities throughout the United States are home to a growing number of elderly adults. Geriatric prison populations present a challenge to State officials struggling to control costs in a weakened economy. The need to reduce corrections costs without jeopardizing public safety provides States with an opportunity to introduce or refine geriatric release policies, rendering early release for some prisoners (especially nonviolent) increasingly viable alternatives. The challenge is to make existing policies more effective and to identify and assess new approaches to managing an aging population that is expected to grow. States with provisions for geriatric release can lead the way by making greater use of them and evaluating the outcomes. At the end of 2009, 15 States and the District of Columbia had provisions for geriatric release. However, the jurisdictions are rarely using these provisions. Many that have enacted geriatric release policies have not realized a decrease in their prison populations or the savings they may have anticipated. This report is based upon a statutory review of geriatric release provisions, including some medical release practices that specifically refer to elderly inmates. The report offers recommendations for responding to the disparities between geriatric release policies and practice, such as States that look to geriatric release as a cost-saving measure must examine how they put policy into practice, creative strategies allowing older individuals to complete their sentences in the community should be piloted and evaluated, and to protect public safety, States should consider developing relevant risk- and needs- assessment instruments, as well as reentry programs and supervision plans, for elderly people who are released from prison. 4 figures and 41 endnotes