The Financial Times reports on the cost of keeping elderly inmates in prison, especially at a time when many state budgets are working at a deficit. It is often more expensive to keep an elderly person incarcerated because of their health needs, and the number of older inmates is expected to increase during the next 20 years.

The story quotes Tina Chiu, author of Vera's report on aging prisoners and increasing costs, "It's About Time: Aging Prisoners, Increasing Costs, and Geriatric Release." Chiu said

“one commonly cited reservation [to releasing older inmates] is that elderly offenders placed in nursing homes may prey upon an already vulnerable population."

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