Finding steady housing is a huge challenge for anyone getting out of jail or prison. But for the elderly or disabled, many of whom have special needs, it’s an even greater problem. As more nursing homes conclude that ex-offenders are bad for business, states are scrambling for solutions of where to house them.
Connecticut opened a nursing home, 60 West, last February to house former offenders and those on parole — though officials say the facility is “just like any other nursing home” and open to anyone. Of their 49 residents, 18 of them came directly from state prison, including 15 still on parole, and the rest have spent time in state housing for mental illness or addiction.
“There’s nowhere to put them so they die a technically free man or woman in prison.”
“The Department of Corrections had a growing number of inmates who met skilled nursing home level of care criteria and were eligible to be released, but couldn’t be released unless they could get a nursing home to take them,” said Mike Lawlor, Connecticut’s undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning. “It was extremely difficult. Most are for-profit and are reluctant to take someone coming directly out of [prison] because they’re worried about how it would impact business.”
The problem is a pressing one, with the elderly representing the fastest growing segment of the US prison population. Roughly 5,700 inmates over the age of 65 were released from state and federal prisons in 2012, and the median age of parolees as of 2010 was 51 years old. Those who have spent time in prison may also be even more in need of medical care than others their same age. Research suggests inmates experience higher rates of hypertension, asthma, arthritis, hepatitis and some cancers than individuals that aren’t incarcerated. Some studies have estimated prisoners’ physiological age is 10 to 15 years older than their chronological age.
“One of the biggest obstacles [corrections officials] face is finding nursing home care for the former prisoners who need it,” wrote Human Rights Watch in a 2012 report on aging in prison. “Many nursing homes do not want to accept ex-felons, particularly if they were sex offenders, and those that may be willing to do so may not have any beds available at the time an individual who needs such care is released.”
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Story: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/07/01/3454291/elderly-inmates/