Many Older People Leaving Prison Are Faced with Unmet Needs for Housing and Health Care

Date:  01-24-2025 With the death of family and friends while incarcerated, older individuals seek help from overworked parole officers and social service providers

From The Conversation: American prisons are rapidly graying. Following decades of mass incarceration, exacerbated by the U.S. war on drugs, the proportion of older people in prison has increased since the early 1990s. Nearly a quarter of people behind bars in federal and state prisons are over age 50. That’s five times the proportion of the prison population in 1991. Upward of 95% of incarcerated people will eventually leave prison, either on parole or because they’ve completed their sentence. And the older they are when released, the harder it can be to reintegrate into society. Older people face greater health, housing and family obstacles after leaving prison than those under 50. As a result, they tend to rely more on parole officers and social service providers to get settled. Yet, our criminology research in New Jersey shows, there simply isn’t enough help out there to meet their needs. Continue reading >>>