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Texas' medical parole process praised: Recommendations are timely, but parole board fails to act

Having recently discussed the Texas parole board's failure to act on 90% of medical releases recommended by TDCJ, I was interested to see via Doc Berman that the Vera Institute just published a new study titled, "Aging Prisoners, Increasing Costs, and Geriatric Release" (pdf), which includes a discussion of Texas' program.According to the Vera Institute, "In the years following its creation [in 1991], few elderly inmates were released." A 2002 audit critical of the program sparked reform, after a fashion, inspiring the Texas Correctional Office for Offenders with Mental or Medical Impairments to contract withthe Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) for case management services. The DADS staff conduct all pre-release interviews, handle federal entitlement applications, and coordinate post-release services, including placement in nursing homes, hospices, or at other facilities...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on April 07, 2010 (boomark / email).