BILL NUMBER: S5051

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act authorizing a study by the New York state department of
corrections and community supervision to study the treatment of aging
prison populations and make recommendations for ensuring humane treat-
ment of such populations

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This legislation specifically authorizes the Department of Corrections
and Community Supervision to undertake a study of the treatment, condi-
tions and prevalence of aging prison populations and issue findings
pertaining to such populations. The study shall include an analysis of:
factors contributing to the growth in the number of elderly prisoners,
the extent to which elderly prisoners are being provided with adequate
housing and medical care, the provision of specialized training of
corrections officers, and the assigning oversight of older inmates to a
specific official within each correctional facility. The Department
shall issue its report within one year of the effective date of this
              

law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

While the inmate population in New York has decreased dramatically in
recent years through the advent of determinate sentencing, reforms to
Rockefeller Drug Laws, increased use of alternatives to incarceration
and expanded eligibility of shock incarceration, the population of
inmates left behind in prison is aging rapidly.  At the end of 1992, we
had a population of 61,376 inmates, 2,461, or 4%, of whom were elderly.

By the end of 2006, we had a population of 63,304 inmates, but the
number of elderly inmates increased disproportionately to 6,945, or 11%
of the total inmate population.  On May 1, 2015, we had a population
that had decreased to 52,136 inmates and yet the number of elderly
inmates was 9,926, or 17% of the inmate population.

The trend is clear. Under our current sentencing policies and parole
board practices, the elderly inmate population will continue to grow.
Unless we provide new release mechanisms to reduce the number of inmates
who are too old, frail or infirm to pose a risk to safety, the alterna-
tive is to plan for resources to meet the needs of a growing elderly
population behind bars. In 2011, $33 million was spent to add 38 hospice
beds to serve dying inmates placed in the Regional Medical Unit (RMU) at
Walsh Medical Center located within the confines of Mohawk Correctional
Facility in Oneida County. A Unit for the Cognitively Impaired located
in Fishkill Correctional Facility's RMU utilizes professional caregivers
to provide services to incarcerated individuals living with dementia.
The average cost per bed at this unit is $93,000. More than double the
$41,000 per bed in the general prison population. With 9,300 inmates
elderly inmates currently, more is needed than just these two special-
ized units.

The issue of aging people in prison is arguably a matter of economic
urgency, a public health crisis, a violation of human rights or a
reflection of the critical shortcomings of our criminal justice system,
depending on the eyes of the beholder. All perspectives should agree,
however, that the prison system, half of which was built more than a
century ago, is not equipped to handle an increasingly aging population.
With the rapid growth in the number of older prisoners being retained in
prison it is essential for policymakers to fully understand how best to
address the needs of a changing prison population.

Accordingly, any serious and sustainable attempt to resolve this crisis
requires a multifaceted approach and cross-disciplinary discussion among
experts. This legislation begins that process by requiring the Depart-
ment to conduct a study of the challenges posed by the aging prison
population, including a review of existing and necessary resources, and
provide a report of its findings and its plan s to the legislature one
year after the effective date of this bill.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: S.4743 - Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction

2017-18: S.3396 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

2015-16: S.7719 - Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.