BILL NUMBER:  S7719

 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
treatment of such populations

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

This legislation specifically authorizes the Department of Corrections
and Community Supervision to undertake a study of the treatment,
conditions 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
alternative 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 specialized 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 Department 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
plans to the legislature one year after the effective date of this
bill.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF BILL :

This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately.