NCJ Number
186715
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 62 Issue: 7 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 90-92
Date Published
December 2000
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines ways to provide for the special needs of long-term care and physically challenged inmates.
Abstract
The impact of inmates living longer has become a major focus for corrections managers. In addition, offenders are receiving longer sentences and seem to age faster in prison; they are considered geriatric at age 55. Pennsylvania's SCI-Laurel Highlands is a former State mental hospital that was converted into a security level-2 facility, which currently houses 85 long-term care, 44 personal care, and 244 general population inmates. It is the State's only institution specifically designated for the care, custody, and control of long-term care, wheelchair, and geriatric inmates. It provides medical care for the long-term ill, a life skills program, general recreational activities designed for older or physically challenged inmates, and psychological assessments and treatment also designed for those inmates. The facility has separate food service preparation and service arrangements for older inmates, special classes for sick and infirm inmates, and educational and arts and crafts programs. Correctional departments across the United States and in foreign countries have looked to SCI-Laurel Highlands as an example of how to deal with older offenders and their specialized needs.