California has decided to suspend a court-ordered medical parole program, deciding instead to either return its most incapacitated prisoners to state facilities or release them early. This decision has sparked protests from attorneys and advocates who argue it endangers a vulnerable population of prisoners suffering from serious health issues, many of whom cannot care for themselves. The move raises concerns about the adequacy of care for aging inmates and highlights the financial implications of maintaining an older prison population, which is significantly more expensive to care for according to research findings.
Caring for a rapidly aging prison population is a growing problem across the United States. It is twice as expensive to imprison older people than those younger.
We have concerns that they cannot meet the needs of the population for things like memory care, dementia, traumatic brain injury, said Sara Norman.
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