America is getting older. In 2012, 43.1 million Americans were aged 65 and older. By 2050 it will be 83.7 million, nearly doubling. The surviving members of the baby boomer generation, my parents’ generation, will all be over the age of 85 in that year.

The United States is of course not the only country with an aging population. Many countries in Europe, as well as Japan, are facing a shift in demographics. Japan’s population, in particular, has a very high proportion of elderly citizens. More than a quarter of its population is over 65. It hasn’t reached “children of men” status there yet, but increased life expectancy and low birth rates can make it difficult for a society to function.

As our population gets older we are going to have to come up with ways to take care of our oldest citizens. Not all families are equipped to handle the level of care that the elderly require, particularly those in the 85 and older age range. For this reason, nursing homes and assisted living facilities have become increasingly common. And while the care and medical attention are positive aspects of this change, there are drawbacks such as less time spent with family and less interaction between older Americans and their communities. This can leave the elderly feeling disengaged from life, depressing them and causing a negative impact on their health.

In addition to the needs of our oldest citizens, we also have the needs of our future citizens to think about. Access to affordable daycare has long been a problem and in fact has become an increasingly visible issue in the 2016 election, with people from Hillary Clinton to Ivanka Trump citing the need to provide quality, affordable daycare to working families. Many working Americans, about 44 percent of them, have both dependent children and aging parents to care for. Providing daycare for their small children is often difficult or impossible. Families without means turn to unlicensed daycares or informal arrangements with neighbors.

There may be a way to deal with both of these concerns at the same time. If both the very old and the very young need care, one possible solution is to put both of these groups together. Which is exactly what intergenerational daycare facilities, like Mount St. Vincent in Seattle, do.

Present Perfect

There are more benefits to putting the old and the young together than just convenience for those in between. Increased social interactions have a positive impact on the health and quality of life for the elderly–delaying mental decline, reducing the risk of disease, and lowering blood pressure. The elderly residents aren’t in charge of caring for the children at Mount St. Vincent and facilities like it but they still participate in activities with them, which gives them a sense of purpose. This sense of purpose is one of the key components to fighting depression and some of the negative emotions associated with getting older.

Some of the negative emotions that come with aging, such as feeling that you are no longer useful, are culturally imposed. And they are stereotypes that increased interaction between generations can help eliminate. Take a look at this TedTalk by Evan Biggs, the maker of the film “Present Perfect,” which chronicles the Mount St. Vincent facility and how it works. It’s a long video but worth watching.

A culture that promotes the idea that people who are older have intrinsic value despite, or even because of, their age means that the elderly feel valued and live fuller lives. But establishing this type of culture is something that is done over a long period of time, which is where intergenerational daycare can provide an added benefit. They teach children from a very young age that the elderly have value and get them used to interacting with people from an age group that they might not otherwise come in contact with. In pre-modern societies the generations typically aren’t segregated from each other, but in our modern society, with an increased amount of elderly people living in nursing homes or otherwise apart from their grandchildren, effort needs to be made to bring these groups together.

Interacting with the elderly also allows these children to get even more attention and enriching activities than they would if it was only the staff of the daycare in attendance. There are just more adults around to participate. Take a look at this footage from PBS on the Mount St. Vincent daycare that shows residents and children interacting with each other.

If the elderly benefit and the children benefit, then what is the problem with putting nursing homes and nurseries together?

Drawbacks to Intergenerational Daycare

The most obvious drawback is the likelihood that residents will die and the children will be forced to deal with the question of death and mortality. There really isn’t an easy way around that problem, but it may not actually be a bad thing. At some point, children learn about death and get the sense of their own mortality. No method of discovering that is completely free from trauma. The key to dealing with this isn’t to delay learning about death as long as possible but rather to handle the topic in a compassionate and age-appropriate way.

Another concern is that some elderly residents may not actually want to spend time with children. Not everyone likes little kids or wants to feel responsible for interacting with them. In an effort to provide a way to feel useful we might be providing some people with a chore instead. That is why the amount of time they spend with children or if they spend any time with them at all should be completely voluntary for the elderly participants. Some may be interested in spending the majority of their free time with the children and some may not. Both age groups need to have their own space as well as the ability to opt in and out as they choose. The caretakers for the children and for the elderly should be the staff and the structure of the facility needs to reflect that.

There is a danger of infantilizing the elderly by having the two groups together that care providers should be aware of. Although they may have the need for some physical assistance the way small children do, the elderly are not like small children and may find that being in a facility with children obscures that fact. Providers should be aware that what might be an appropriate treatment for a small child, such as using “baby talk,” can be demeaning when directed at an elderly person. While these facilities serve both age groups they should do so knowing that they are two very different groups with different needs.

Investments and Quality

These are not insurmountable challenges. Managing an intergenerational daycare that benefits both young and old may be more challenging than running a nursing home and a daycare in separate facilities. But it is certainly something that can be successfully done, as long as care providers are able to treat each age group appropriately and the system is one based on voluntary participation.

Various private facilities, such as the Mount St. Vincent facility, are already using an intergenerational model with a lot of success. But this could be an area in which the government can encourage the development of more of these facilities. If we decide that the social benefits of these facilities–the improved emotional lives of the elderly and the increased social skills for the young–are an improvement on separate nursing and daycare facilities, then we have options to encourage their use. Because our population is aging we are going to have to invest in care facilities for the elderly. For new facilities that are built by private companies, governments can offer tax incentives or subsidies if those facilities also open their doors to children. The government could also sponsor facilities and provide subsidies for working families.

In Denmark, this is something that they already do for small children, typically covering 75 percent of the cost, which has resulted in Danish women having a much stronger presence in the workforce than, for example, in the U.K. where this is not the case. A similar program could be instituted for children here in the United States. And if we really wanted to encourage intergenerational daycare we could give added subsidies to parents who send their children to one, or include residence or daytime attendance at a daycare in the benefits we provide to the elderly.

Any and all of these ideas are obviously going to involve a huge investment in terms of money as well as cultural change and human capital. But the current childcare system is a crushing burden on working families. Child care is unaffordable for many families–in Nevada, 75 percent of families can’t afford it–and often poor in quality, with only 10 percent of daycares nationally being rated as “very high quality.” Providing a tax break to families so they can purchase childcare only works if there is childcare to be purchased that can meet scheduling needs and is high quality. All children and the elderly, deserve “very high quality” care.

Conclusion

As our population gets older we need to start thinking about how we are going to care for our aging citizens. And we already are faced with a childcare crisis that requires us to come up with a new solution. It need not be one solution. In fact, a combination of encouraging employers to provide daycare, subsidies, or income percentage caps, and even government facilities could all play a role. Intergenerational daycare could be a feature that allows us to take care of both of these populations while at the same time promoting cultural values of respect for the elderly and investment in children.

Resources

Census Bureau: An Aging Nation: The Older Population In The United States

The Japan Times: Japan Census Report Shows Surge In Elderly Population, Many Living Alone

Goodreads: The Children of Men

The New York Times: Daycare For All Ages

Atlantic.com: The Preschool Inside A Nursing Home

The Guardian: What Britain Could Learn From Denmark’s Childcare Model

The New York Times: Clinton’s Day Care Plan: A Good Start, But Not Enough

Metro.co.uk: This Nursery In An Old People’s Home Is Everything That’s Right With The World

ABC News: Seattle Preschool In A Nursing Home “Transforms” Elderly Residents

Wall Street Journal: Day Care Program Groups Toddlers With the Elderly

Mary Kate Leahy

Mary Kate Leahy (@marykate_leahy) has a J.D. from William and Mary and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Manhattanville College. She is also a proud graduate of Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart. She enjoys spending her time with her kuvasz, Finn, and tackling a never-ending list of projects. Contact Mary Kate at staff@LawStreetMedia.com

The post Intergenerational Daycare: How Do We Deal With Care Across Generations? appeared first on Law Street.

Every year starting in 2006, the Justice Department has announced that the aging prison population is one of its “top management challenges.” Major newspapers cover the issue, discussing the build up and consequences of this phenomenon. The ACLU and Human Rights Watch produce detailed reports on the topic. Many advocacy groups campaign for the release of elderly prisoners, and even prominent “tough-on-crime” politicians became concerned about rising healthcare costs in the prison system.

It has become common knowledge that the elderly are the fastest growing population in America’s prison system. Read on to learn about the magnitude of the problem, as well as reasons for, solutions to, and ramifications of the aging prisoner population in America.

How many elderly people are in prison now?

The number of men and women age 55 years and older has grown dramatically, from roughly 32,600 in 1995 to about 124,400 in 2010. That’s an increase of 282 percent in comparison with a 42.1 percent increase in the total prison population during the same years. In 2000, elderly inmates accounted for only three percent of the total prison population. In just ten years, their numbers increased by five percent. Now they account for approximately 16 percent of the total prison population.

It’s projected that the aging prison population may increase by 4,400 percent if you consider numbers from 1981 to 2030.  With this forecast, by 2030 prisoners 55 years and older will approach one third of the total prison population.

Across the states, the proportion of prisoners 55 years and older range from 4.2 percent to 9.9 percent. The highest rate is found in Oregon, and the lowest in Connecticut. In southern states, the elderly prisoner population increased by 145 percent just during the ten-year period from 1997 to 2007.

The majority of America’s elderly prisoners are male; elderly females constitute only six percent of all aging prisoners. In addition, 42 percent of aging prisoners are white, 33 percent are black, and around 15 percent are Hispanic.

Not surprisingly, older prisoners comprise the largest share of all prison deaths. From 2001 to 2007, 8,486 elderly inmates died in prison. The number of deaths increased 11.8 percent, from 33.9 percent in 2001 to 45.7 percent in 2007.

Those numbers are likely to increase as inmates continue to age and newly admitted middle-aged prisoners transition to older age.

Why are so many elderly people in prison?

Opinions differ on this matter, with some people pointing fingers at the “tough-on-crime” policies of the American government, while others cite the overall aging of the American population and those who commit crimes. Most likely, it’s all of the above.

Starting in the mid-1970s, the United States government enacted laws that allowed for longer sentences and restricted early releases. Among the most notorious policies were the mandatory minimum sentences, the “three strikes” laws, and the elimination of federal parole. The majority of now-elderly inmates entered the system at a much younger age and stayed there for decades, primarily due to the laws that mandated minimum sentences even for non-violent crimes. For example, 65 percent of aging prisoners in Texas are there for non-violent offenses, including drug-related and property crimes. In North Carolina, 26 percent of elderly inmates are habitual offenders, sentenced mostly for drug crimes, while 14 percent are sentenced for fraud, larceny, burglary, breaking and entering, and even traffic and public order violations. “Three strikes” laws for repeat offenders, truth-in-sentencing conditions, and technical parole revocations are all cited as contributing factors to the increase in the aging prison population in America. As a result, from 1986 to 1995, the number of prisoners serving 20 years or more tripled.

In addition, the number of prisoners who are serving life sentences has increased dramatically, including those with no possibility of release. It’s estimated that between 1984 and 2008, the number of life sentences increased about four times, from 34,000 to 140,610. Some of the prisoners can be eligible for parole in around 25 years depending on the jurisdiction, but only a small fraction of those will actually be released.

The increasing age of the prison population in America can be also attributed to the increased age at which offenders are entering prison. In recent years, people in their thirties and forties are getting arrested and sentenced to prison at higher rates. One study suggests that the driving force behind it is the growth in re-arrests of those who use drugs and have already spent some time behind bars.

How is the country affected by aging prisoners?

The most profound effect of the aging prison population is probably seen in the increased costs of housing and care for elderly inmates. Older prisoners are two to three times more expensive than younger offenders. It costs around $24,000 a year to house a young prisoner, but the expenses for an aging prisoner can be up to $72,000 per year. The reason for the jump, not surprisingly, is medical costs. As people grow older, they naturally have more health issues than their younger counterparts. Older prisoners with significant medical needs have to be housed in specific facilities that most prisons don’t have, or, if they do, cost them a fortune to maintain. Thus, prisons for aging populations increasingly resemble nursing homes more than correctional facilities.

Inmates are not eligible for federal health insurance programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, but by law are required to receive medical treatment. State and federal prisons cover all the costs. No matter whose responsibility it is to maintain prisons, taxpayers are the ones who pay for it. And as an aging prison population increases, healthcare costs will require more of the taxpayers’ money.

Watch the video below to understand the magnitude of the aging prison population problem.

What can be done to address the issue?

Investing in Prison Medical Care

Inmates are aging faster than the general population. Their physiological age is seven to ten years older than their chronological age. That means that if an inmate is 55 years old, he may have the medical needs of a 65-year-old person on the outside. The reasons for this phenomenon are lack of access to health services prior to incarceration, poor diet and exercise habits, and drug and alcohol abuse. At the same time, stress, lack of a support system, and depression while in prison add to the odds of faster aging.

No matter how you look at it, if we choose to keep elderly inmates in prison, we will have to provide adequate medical care and conditions, including appropriate housing and training for the staff. As of 2005, only 20 states had special housing for geriatric prisoners. Providing that the occupancy rate of these facilities may vary from 13 to 100 beds, it’s not nearly enough to care for all those who cannot get out of bed without assistance.

Releasing Elderly Inmates

Many state prisons have compassionate release and medical parole programs, but they are rarely used and often exclude violent or sex offenders. It can be granted for those inmates who have significant health problems, and those who are no longer considered a danger to society. Prisoners 55 years and older are often those who serve longer sentences for drug, violent, or sex crimes, meaning few of them will ever be eligible for early release.

In 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged the issue of the aging prison population when he announced a new compassionate early release program for elderly inmates who pose no danger to the community and served more than half of their sentences. Since 1992, only 381 inmates were released under this condition in New York state. Other states have even lower rates of compassionate release.

The process of medical parole or compassionate release is a lengthy and sometimes difficult one for elderly inmates, as it may take many years and require demanding paperwork and evaluation. Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) is one of many organizations that advocate for the rights of aging inmates and help them to go through the application and evaluation process. The group supports early release programs for elderly New York state inmates, claiming that these individuals pose no threat to society and served considerable time behind the bars.

Watch the video below to learn more about current efforts to release elderly inmates.

Outsourcing to Nursing Homes

Some states are considering public-private partnerships with nursing homes as they can reduce costs by transferring elderly inmates to more age-appropriate facilities. In 2010, California passed Penal Code 6267, which allowed a variation of medical parole for certain inmates. Those who need 24-hour care and are no longer a danger to society can be sent to private nursing homes. They will be assigned a parole agent for this time, but should be returned to prison if and when their condition improves; however, many have conditions that are terminal.

Scrapping “Tough-on-Crime” Laws

Those who worry about the aging population suggest relaxing current “tough-on-crime” laws, including mandatory sentencing and habitual offender laws. As a result of these laws, violent and non-violent offenders alike are aging in prisons, even though some of them have potential for rehabilitation and pose no threat to the public. Lessening terms of incarceration and using other methods of punishment instead can reduce the overall aging of the prison population.

Arguments For Releasing Older Prisoners

Low Risk to Society 

The advocates for release argue that elderly and ill prisoners pose no threat to society, as most of them are physically incapacitated and mentally impaired. Prison experts agree that only a very small portion of older inmates come back to prison facilities, including those who are still in a good health. The reason for it is age itself, as older people generally commit fewer crimes and are less likely to relapse after serving time in prison. In fact, the number of people 55 years and older who enter the prison system for the first time is relatively low (3.5 percent) and declining.

Recent studies conducted in Florida and Colorado reveal that an older age at release–50 years and older–is the most important predictor of lower recidivism rates. At the same time, many now-older prisoners were sentenced for non-violent offenses. If they have never committed violent crimes in the first place, there is a very low risk of them committing violent offenses when they are old or sick.

Medical release is for geriatric inmates–those who have considerable health issues, are bound to a wheelchair or bed, and are generally incapacitated. The argument is centered on the notion that even if such prisoners wanted to go on a crime spree, they wouldn’t be able to pull it off due to health and mental problems.

The Right Thing To Do

Another supporting argument for releasing elderly inmates is that it’s simply the right thing to do. According to this argument, elderly prisoners with serious medical issues, who were incarcerated for non-violent crimes and served a significant part of their sentences, should be shown some mercy. In this view, age and sickness should be considerations for release, and, at this point, continuing imprisonment is viewed as cruel and inhumane punishment.

What are the arguments against releasing older prisoners?

It Wouldn’t Be Fair

The argument against releasing elderly and sick inmates is centered on the belief that punishment should be carried out to its fullest. It’s understandable, as some older prisoners have committed violent crimes, and therefore deserve to be punished. The supporters of this approach often refer to the victims’ rights. Not only do victims deserve justice through punishment of offenders, but also this punishment shouldn’t be conditioned on age or health. In this view, the costs of crime are believed to be much higher than those of housing and caring for older prisoners. As society pays for keeping criminals locked up, it also pays for medical treatment and counseling for crime victims, replacement of stolen items, and other expenses associated with crime. Even though victims advocates don’t oppose early releases for sick and non-violent offenders, many politicians employ this argument in the discussion of aging prison population.

What if they commit more crimes?

Another reason why elderly prisoners are not being released is fear of bad publicity coupled with unwillingness to take responsibility in parole decisions. If even one of the elderly prisoners who was released as a result of a state’s parole decision committed a violent crime, state officials could be denounced or blamed for it. Most of the parole board members are not corrections professionals but rather political appointees who often want to appear as protectors of public order.

Watch the video below to learn more about the most common arguments against releasing elderly inmates.

What will happen to elderly prisoners after release?

Some prisoners could go back to their families, while others could be released to nursing homes or assisted-living facilities; however, private nursing homes can be expensive, and, as elderly inmates have no assets, they can be placed in only government-approved facilities. Even in this case, most of these nursing homes don’t want to accept formerly incarcerated individuals, especially if they served time for sex crimes. At the same time, those nursing homes that are willing to take elderly inmates in may not have beds available, resulting in prolonged waiting periods.

Conclusion

The aging prison population has increased dramatically and will continue to grow at an even more rapid pace. Multiple reasons contribute to the aging population of prisoners, including “tough-on-crime” sentencing policies, increase in age of offenders, and the general aging of the American population. Inmates are also more likely to age quickly due to prior lifestyle and prison conditions. All in all, some correctional facilities have become reminiscent of nursing homes with bars. Even as opinions differ on how to resolve the issue of aging prison population, policymakers should provide solutions soon, as further failure to act can result in negative ramifications for the American economy and society at large.

 Sources

Primary

State of California Legislative Analyst’s Office: Three Strikes – The Impact After More Than a Decade

North Carolina Department of Correction Division of Prisons: Aging Inmate Population Study

Additional

Nation Inside: RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison)

Human Rights Watch: Old Behind Bars. The Aging Prison Population in the United States.

ACLU: At America’s Expense: The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly

Al Jazeera: Old Age in the Big House

Correctional Association of New York: Compassion vs. Safety: Should Aging/Ill Prisoners Be Released?

FAMM: What are Mandatory Minimums?

Graying Prisoners: States Face Challenges of an Aging Inmate Population

National Real Estate Investor: Aging Prison Population Calls for Nursing Care Partnerships

The New York Times: Graying Prisoners

Psychology Today: Aging Prisoners. The prison system is a Cemetery of Hope

Stateville Speaks Blog – Loyola University Chicago: The Elderly in Prison and Recidivism

Wall Street Journal: New Research Challenges Assumptions About Aging Prison Population

USA Today: Aging Prisoners’ Costs Put Systems Nationwide in a Bind

Valeriya Metla

Valeriya Metla is a young professional, passionate about international relations, immigration issues, and social and criminal justice. She holds two Bachelor Degrees in regional studies and international criminal justice. Contact Valeriya at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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