The cost of caring for Illinois’ aging prison population
By Produced by Eight Forty-EightThe cost of caring for Illinois’ aging prison population
By Produced by Eight Forty-EightIllinois’ prisons are strapped for cash and caring for the growing number of elderly prisoners is part of the problem. Inmates over 50 are a fairly small slice of the overall prison population. But according to a new report released Wednesday in the Chicago Reader, they use about one-third of the Illinois Department of Corrections’ total budget.
Jessica Pupovac is the freelance journalist behind the report and has been sifting through the figures. She joined “Eight Forty-Eight” to discuss what she unearthed for her piece, “Guarding Grandpa: Illinois is spending money it doesn’t have to keep convicts who can barely walk behind bars.”
RELATED LINKS:
2010 Vera Institute study
2009 Illinois Department of Corrections annual report
Music Button: Four Tet/Bonobo, “Pick Ups”, from the CD Four Tet Remixes, (Domino)