BERKELEY, Calif. — A new report from advocates and researchers examines how California spends millions incarcerating elderly women who pose little threat to public safety, even as their health declines and costs increase.
The report, No Time to Wait: A Case for Releasing Elders from California’s Women’s Prisons, produced by the Policy Advocacy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law in partnership with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, argues that continued incarceration of elderly women is “unjustified, costly, and inhumane.”
Drawing on data, research, and firsthand accounts, the report concludes that older individuals can be safely released and that keeping them incarcerated represents a growing fiscal and moral failure. It finds that incarcerating elderly individuals costs two to three times more than incarcerating the general prison population, while recidivism rates for people over 60 remain exceptionally low.
For Devan Shea, Deputy Director in the Policy Advocacy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law, the findings reflect both a policy breakdown and a human one.
“Well, I think the key takeaways we want folks to get from this report is that we know that incarcerating elders in California’s women’s prisons is harmful, unjust and costly,” Shea said.
Shea pointed to a growing body of public health research showing that incarceration accelerates aging and worsens health outcomes.
“There’s established public health research that shows that incarceration is especially harmful to older adults causing accelerated aging because of the prison conditions and inadequate medical care,” she said.
At the same time, she noted, the population in question poses little risk.
“Recidivism rates among elderly people and people who have served long sentences are quite low… this is a very safe population to release and that’s supported by the evidence,” Shea said.
The report estimates that California spends up to $300 million annually incarcerating roughly 740 elderly women, a figure driven largely by health care costs and the logistical demands of providing care in custody.
“Healthcare costs account for about 40% of the per person costs of incarceration on average, but that really goes up with age,” Shea said.
She explained that while average annual health care costs hover around $57,000 per incarcerated person, they rise steeply with age—approaching $87,000 for those in their 60s and “for a 70-year-old, nearly 140,000.”
Even those figures understate the full cost of incarceration.
Shea noted that prison-based care requires layers of security and logistics that do not exist in the community.
“CDCR also notes that healthcare for elders is more costly in custody… because people have to be guarded, custody guarding, transportation,” she said.
The result is a system that delivers some of the most expensive care in the least efficient setting.
A March 2026 report from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reinforces that conclusion, stating that “health care costs increase significantly with age, as older incarcerated people have higher rates of chronic illness and require more intensive medical services.”
It further notes that “the cost of providing medical care in a correctional setting is substantially higher than in the community due to security requirements, including custody staff for transportation and supervision.”
For Jane Dorotik, who spent two decades incarcerated before being exonerated, those realities are visible not in spreadsheets but in daily life.
“This just seems like such a no-brainer,” Dorotik said. “So many women that I saw were in wheelchairs or walkers and really struggled because prisons are not made… certainly not made for elderly women.”
Dorotik entered prison in her 50s and left in her 70s. Over that time, she witnessed the transformation of prisons into de facto geriatric facilities, where aging individuals struggled to navigate environments built for younger bodies.
“Prison really accelerates aging,” she said, describing how stress, inadequate care, and restrictive conditions lead to rapid physical decline.
She described scenes of women in wheelchairs lining up for meals, of individuals with walkers assigned physically demanding jobs, and of people with serious medical conditions navigating spaces ill-suited to their needs.
In one example, Dorotik recounted how elderly individuals are often required to continue working regardless of their physical limitations, sometimes performing tasks that put them at risk of injury. In another, she described how individuals are shackled during medical transport, increasing the risk of falls and injury.
These conditions, she said, are not only inhumane—they are expensive.
“It costs two to three times the amount to incarcerate anyone over the age of 50,” Dorotik said.
Yet despite those costs, the system continues to incarcerate elderly individuals at significant scale.
The report argues that this is not driven by public safety concerns, but by structural and political barriers that limit release.
“All of the research in the world says that people age out of criminal behavior,” Dorotik said.
Shea echoed that point, noting that elderly individuals—particularly those who have served long sentences—have among the lowest recidivism rates of any group in the system.
The contradiction is stark: the people who cost the most to incarcerate are often those least likely to return to prison.
The report identifies existing mechanisms that could address this mismatch, including elderly parole, compassionate release, and medical parole. But it also notes that these mechanisms are underutilized, with relatively few elderly individuals actually released each year.
Advocates say that reflects a broader reluctance to embrace decarceration, even when supported by data.
Dorotik pointed to the role of public perception and political pressure, particularly in high-profile cases, in shaping decisions about release.
“Do we really believe in rehabilitation or not?” she said, framing the issue as a test of whether the system is willing to act on its own principles.
As California’s prison population continues to age, the costs of inaction are expected to grow. The CDCR report warns that “as the incarcerated population ages, the demand for medical services and associated costs is expected to continue to rise.”
At the same time, community-based alternatives offer a different path.
“Community-based care options may provide appropriate levels of care at a lower cost than continued incarceration for certain medically vulnerable populations,” the CDCR report states.
For Shea, the conclusion is straightforward. “It’s going to be cheaper to take care of people in their communities,” she said.
For Dorotik, it is even simpler.
“There’s just no good reason to keep elderly in prison,” she said.
The report finds that incarcerating elderly individuals carries significantly higher costs while offering limited public safety benefit, noting that older populations have lower recidivism rates and greater medical needs.
Shea said the findings are grounded in existing data and research.
“What this report provides is evidence-based policy suggestions. So what does the data tell us about the safety of this group of people? Also, what does the research tell us about their circumstances and why actually the evidence really does support releasing this population?”
She added that rising costs are closely tied to aging and health care needs.
“Healthcare costs account for about 40% of the per person costs of incarceration on average, but that really goes up with age,” Shea said.
Dorotik said decisions about continued incarceration often do not reflect how people change over time.
“There’s no difference between me and someone else… they’re not the same person now,” she said, referring to individuals who have aged and served long sentences.
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Pretty sure that elderly convicts are going to cost taxpayers money (one way or another), regardless of whether or not they’re kept in prison.
A comparison/study would probably need to be performed to determine how much these losers cost society via various programs once they’re released, compared to keeping them incarcerated. (That is, if cost is the primary variable to be examined/considered.)
Unless some family member is willing to provide free room and board to Uncle Joe for the rest of his life – the same guy who has been in prison for killing someone for the past 20 years. (Gee, where can I sign up for THAT?)
“Pretty sure that elderly convicts are going to cost taxpayers money (one way or another), regardless of whether or not they’re kept in prison.”
It’s still far more expensive to incarcerate not to mention that prison health / medicare is just bad.
It may be more expensive (not seeing any actual comparison, though). And since each individual’s subsequent living arrangement is different, a study would likely be needed to make that overall determination (on average).
But if the healthcare is “bad”, maybe they save more money that way (cheaper healthcare, and more importantly – earlier death). That is, if “cost” is the consideration.
These are generally not people who are going to start contributing to the GDP upon release. Seems more likely that they’ll need a completely subsidized life (paid for by someone else, and/or taxpayers at large). But hopefully, too old to be causing any more direct/purposeful damage to others, on average.
I knew I shouldn’t have responded, my bad
No – you should respond, since this article is strictly about “financial cost”. I’m just noting that an actual comparison is needed (and not just a one-sided examination of continued incarceration).
These people will almost certainly continue to create societal costs upon release – even if they’re too old to pursue the profession that landed them in prison.