CJ Young, Director of Nursing, Merrimack County Department of Corrections, Boscawen, NH, and Johnnie Lambert, correctional health care consultant, from Port Royal, SC, join Lorry to discuss recent correctional health care news.

Number of Older Prisoners Grows Rapidly, Threatening to Drive Up Prison Health Costs

Our first story is a report by the PEW Charitable Trusts about the rapidly growing number of older prisoners. This is not news to those of us working in correctional health care but it is now getting some public exposure. New federal data show that from 1999 to 2014, the number of state and federal prisoners age 55 or older increased 250 percent. They point out that elderly prisoners are more likely to experience dementia, impaired mobility, and loss of hearing and vision. These disabilities certainly affect their safety in the prison population especially if left among predatory inmates.

New Connecticut Prison Unit Dedicated Monday Helps Veterans Re-Enter Civilian Life

We celebrated Veterans Day in the US this month. Our next story is about the opening of a Connecticut prison unit dedicated to Veterans who are about to re-enter civilian life from behind bars. Veteran inmates have special issues that need attention when returning to the community.

School to Prison Pipeline

This is interesting take on juvenile justice and the link with school truancy. Surprisingly, in many states, skipping school can lead to incarceration. The school to prison pipeline is described in this story. Is putting kids behind bars for skipping school counterproductive? Shouldn’t we have some type of alternative option?

Jaye Anno: Legendary Correctional Health Care Pioneer (1947 -2015)

Our final story is the passing this month of a correctional health care legend B. Jaye Anno. Panelists take a moment to recognize her significant contribution to our specialty and how our correctional health care practice benefitted from Dr. Anno’s work.

Do you have some thoughts to add about these news items? Share in the comments section below.