There is a concerning trend that is occurring through America's prisons: that the population of prisoners is aging. The population of U.S. prisoners over the age of 44 grew more than 8% annually from 1991 to 2011. Conventional wisdom says that this is the result of the war on drugs and the harsher sentencing policies that have come along with that. But new research has shown that there has been a large spike in middle aged adults being arrested and sentenced (instead of just young people growing old in prison because of long sentences).
The problem with having such a large population of prisoners over the age of 40 is that they generally cost a lot more per year to take care of than younger prisoners because of the associated medical conditions that must be treated. This puts a huge strain on the budget of the states and prevents tax dollars being spent on more meaningful causes and programs.
I believe that states are going to have to take a look at this growing trend and attempt to curb the flow of older adults entering the prison system at such high rates. That means that when younger prisoners get out of jail they need to have more support and better programs to help them find jobs so they don't end up back in jail at an older age. Also local counties need to focus on ways to have community programs and support for the homeless and the poor to help them get the training they need to find jobs. Instead of solely focusing on chaining the harsh sentencing penalties for drug offenders (which is something that needs to looked at too) more needs to be looked at in terms of how we as a society can prevent this alarming trend of people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s entering the prison system at unprecedented rates.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/01/29/new-research-challenges-assumptions-about-aging-prison-population/?mod=wsj_streaming_stream
Adam Soshnick
The problem with having such a large population of prisoners over the age of 40 is that they generally cost a lot more per year to take care of than younger prisoners because of the associated medical conditions that must be treated. This puts a huge strain on the budget of the states and prevents tax dollars being spent on more meaningful causes and programs.
I believe that states are going to have to take a look at this growing trend and attempt to curb the flow of older adults entering the prison system at such high rates. That means that when younger prisoners get out of jail they need to have more support and better programs to help them find jobs so they don't end up back in jail at an older age. Also local counties need to focus on ways to have community programs and support for the homeless and the poor to help them get the training they need to find jobs. Instead of solely focusing on chaining the harsh sentencing penalties for drug offenders (which is something that needs to looked at too) more needs to be looked at in terms of how we as a society can prevent this alarming trend of people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s entering the prison system at unprecedented rates.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/01/29/new-research-challenges-assumptions-about-aging-prison-population/?mod=wsj_streaming_stream
Adam Soshnick
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