Huge Growth in The Elderly in Prison Numbers

Being incarcerated is a large expense on the public, but incarcerated elderly people are even more costly. It’s beginning to be seen as a mushrooming problem that state officials are taking note of.

It’s estimated that the elderly male population is growing about 76% per year, as more older people are going to prison and the ones already in there are aging, as well. Care for them is seriously expensive.

In a 23-year study done in Oklahoma says that the elderly male population in US prisons rose from 85 in 1985 to 879 in 1974. Of the total population in the OK prisons, the population of those over 50 grew from 4% in 1980 to 14.3%. That’s an alarming statistic where the health of the elderly is concerned.

Prison Population Growth Concerning

State corrections officials and government policy makers should be very concerned, as this growth will be more expensive as they go. Waiting until there’s no room isn’t a good strategy. The simple passage of time will require that they focus more on training, facilities, programs, materials, and care of their elderly inmates, both male and female alike.

Old-age care given to inmates is already estimated to be 2-3 times more than those in the general population of US prisons. Even if the institutions level out on population growth, the aging of the already incarcerated will keep budgets straining to give enough care.

The fastest growing age group in US prisons today is the over 50 group, and it’s rising significantly each year. It’s thought that the rise may be due in part to increased prisoner numbers and longer sentences for violent offenders. And, Oklahoma isn’t the only one who has this kind of statistic.

Facts on the People Aging in Prison

“Corrections Today” magazine published a 1998 report on a national survey including the health of older prisoners. Among many facts, they found these:

• Older populations have more health problems, therefore their expenses are far greater.
• 41% of non-incarcerated people over 65 report at least one health issue, where as it rises to 67% in the same age group in prisons.
• People living a criminal lifestyle are more likely to have mental disorders and health problems, due to a lack of access for help and other commonalities, like drug and alcohol use.
• Women are slightly lower in the percentages with an increase in reported chronic health problems from 42% to 74% from ages 50 and 65.
• The numbers will increase tenfold, meaning that medical resources needed will have to increase by twenty fold in the next decade.
• It’s estimated that 15% of male prisoners 50 and older, and 33% of women inmates have mental illness that requires constant treatment.

But those findings are not recent news. Three decades ago Edith Flynn proposed new methods while taking steps toward changing the current system (at the time) to be more proactive and have a needs-aware staff and system. Even back then, she could see the coming wave of elders in our prisons.