Transitioning back into the community from prison is a challenge for most offenders, even for those who are re-entering society during the prime of their lives.  But, for those inmates who have been incarcerated for the majority of their adulthood and return to the community aged and unfamiliar with a society that has progressed, the challenges and adjustments associated with the re-entry process can be even greater.

With stricter sentencing laws in many states, the number of offenders spending the better parts of their lives behind bars has increased.  But what happens when those offenders, many with a variety of physical and mental health issues, are released back into a world that has evolved despite their incarceration?

In California, SCAN Health Plan and Friends Outside in Los Angeles County, a Pasadena-based non-profit, have teamed up to examine that question.  Together, they intend to develop a program to carve a path back into the community for offenders over the age of 55.

"They're coming into a whole different world," said Kit Donaldson, vice president of programs for SCAN Health Plan.  "Their thought process is going to be different - they might not even know what an ATM-Debit card is," she said.  "You just don't know what the prisoner is going to come out to."

Because of the uncertainties aging offenders face when they are released from prison, SCAN and Friends Outside joined forces about a year ago to jumpstart the Released Aging Prisoners Project.  Together, they will take a closer look at the issue and identify what challenges older offenders typically face after incarceration. 

Funded by a $75,000, 18-month planning grant from the California Wellness Foundation, research for the project began in October.  The goal to have the foundation laid for a successful program geared towards meeting the needs of this population by 2006.

The need for transitional programming for elderly offenders is increasing as incarceration rates are rising and sentences are becoming more lengthy, according to Mary Weaver, Executive Director of Friends Outside in Los Angeles County, an organization focused on reconnecting released prisoners to their families.  In California, she said, determinate and enhanced sentencing and the state's three strikes law have all contributed to people remaining incarcerated for longer and being released later in their lives.

"Statistically, we believe that this is going to be a population that is going to be significant in future years," Weaver said.  "With the numbers increasing, we believe that this is going to be a problem that will need to be addressed in some organized fashion in the future."

What both Friends Outside in Los Angeles County and SCAN hope to create in the next two years is a program model to address the various needs of elderly offenders who are reintegrating to society. 

Aside from statistical research, in early 2005, the organizations plan to conduct focus groups with older, released offenders and their families to determine what types of issues they are faced with during re-entry.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to get some good demographics that [are] going to look at what is the profile of the 55-plus prisoner as they are coming back to the L.A. area," Donaldson said.

Although the research is young and focus groups have not yet begun, Weaver and Donaldson already have some strong ideas about the difficulties older offenders encounter when they leave prison life behind.

According to Weaver, the major barriers to re-entry, like housing and employment, are the same for offenders of all ages, including the elderly.  But for older offenders who have been removed from society for decades, the problems they face can become even more complicated.

"It's harder to find a job when you are older and, then, on top of that, you have a felony," Weaver said. 

Another issue for this population is reconnecting with their families, she said.  While that can be difficult for most offenders, those who have been incarcerated for longer periods of time may no longer have ties to their families or may not be welcomed back by them, Weaver added. 

"I think one of the first things we are going to have to look at is what is their support system when they come out," Donaldson said. 

But beyond a lack of family support, housing and employment, this group of offenders is likely to be worse off than younger offenders in one other key area: their health. 

"[Elderly offenders] face all of these problems that most inmates face when they return to the community with an overlay of all of the issues that can happen to somebody when they are older," Weaver said. 

According to Donaldson, due to substance abuse or poor nutrition, most of these offenders are going to appear and feel older than they really are.

"The person's physiological age when they come out of prison is going to be 10-15 years older [than their chronological age]," Donaldson said.  "They are at a higher risk for psychological and social maladjustment."
Additionally, she pointed out, they tend to have a higher incidence of disease and chronic illness.

Offenders with these types of health problems re-entering society can be costly to the state, Donaldson said.

"As the released population comes out, there's going to be more of a social and financial increase on the state of California," Donaldson said.  "We're looking at how we can minimize some of those costs to the state."

Weaver also pointed out that the cost of treating these inmates' health ailments while they are still incarcerated weighs heavily on the state.

"I believe that the dollars that it is going to cost down the road will result in the system having to address this population," said Weaver.  "My guess is they might do so by releasing more of them so we are basically taking a look at this issue in anticipation that it is going to be an issue that is going to be growing."

Since Weaver predicts that the issue will continue to expand, the ultimate hope for the Released Aging Prisoners Project is that it will find a solution to meeting elderly offenders needs in the community.

"The goals at the end will be to not only have done the research, but to actually have put together an evidence-based model of intervention," Donaldson said.  "We will actually have a plan and a model."

That plan, the organizations hope, will materialize into a comprehensive program in 2006 to aid elderly offenders in adjusting to living outside prison walls.

"They'll be coming out with somebody there to help them," Donaldson said.  "They won't be coming out into society with nothing."

Resources:

Donaldson (562) 981-2107

Weaver (626) 795-7607