Ohio’s Aging Inmates
Ohio prison officials have spent more than a decade making plans to deal with its graying population – inmates who are slower, sicker and ultimately cost more money for medical care. The Cincinnati Enquirer has a long and interesting report:
They made up more than 12 percent of the system’s 46,501 prisoners last year, placing Ohio ahead of the national average of 8.7 percent. Prison officials predict that people 50 or older will comprise one-quarter of the state’s prison population by 2025. And that’s not just because young inmates are getting old behind bars. State figures show that more and more people over 50 are committing crimes that are putting them into the prison system at advanced ages. In 2001, 798 offenders were admitted to prison when they were age 50 and over. That number climbed to 4,450 in 2008.
Nearly 300 inmates in Ohio prisons are older than 70, said Terry Collins, who heads the state prison system. “Our population is graying, which creates issues particularly from a medical standpoint,” he said. “Older offenders need to see the doctor more. They are involved in the chronic care clinics for various illnesses. You also have mental health issues, dementia. That becomes another concern.” There are prescription drugs, hearing aids, walkers, special shoes, dentures, geriatric chairs and beds.
It impacts the budget each year. Last year, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections spent nearly $199 million of a $1.8 billion budget on medical services for inmates. That’s a 7.7 percent increase over 2007. Today, the overall average annual cost of an inmate is $24,590. That’s up from last year, when Ohioans paid $22,587 per inmate. About $3,800 of that expense was for medical services, according to state corrections data …
Nearly every one of the department’s 32 prisons has a geriatric ward of sorts – a cell block set aside for older prisoners who want to get away from the general population, Collins said. “Some of these people have to have almost constant care,” Collins said. “We have to hire orderlies. I have inmates that push other inmates in wheelchairs because people can’t get around.” Age doesn’t necessarily dictate where inmates are placed. It’s more about how they get around.
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