Sophia Meador
As public health professionals from across the nation gather at APHA 2026 under the theme “Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan,” conversations focus on solutions to the challenges of an aging population. One session turned attention to a group often overlooked in those discussions: older women behind bars.
At two of California’s women’s prisons — Central California Women’s Facility and California Institution for Women — 740 incarcerated women were ages 50 and older in 2025, representing roughly one-fifth of the prison’s population, according to a presentation at APHA 2026.
During the Monday session titled “No Time to Wait: A Case for Releasing Elders from California’s Women’s Prisons,” advocates examined the health and financial costs of incarcerating older women.
Incarcerating an older woman in a California state prison costs more than $380,000 annually, according to the report presented by Pam Fadem, a coordinating committee member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. That is two to three times the cost of incarcerating a younger person, largely because of increased healthcare needs.
“We think this is beyond belief and a waste of taxpayer money — but mostly, it is a waste of human life and dignity,” Fadem said.
Researchers have linked each year spent in prison to a two-year reduction in life expectancy. For Chyrl Lamar, medical care during her incarceration has had lasting consequences. After being repeatedly shuffled between doctors, she lacked consistent care from a provider familiar with her heart condition, resulting in inadequate treatment, she said on Monday.
Lamar’s experience reflects a broader problem: 88% of older women incarcerated in California report experiencing medical abuse or neglect, according to the report.
“This isn’t simply a medical issue,” Lamar said. “It’s about being heard; it’s about human dignity and having confidence that someone inside will listen and pay attention to what’s happening to me.”
Now out of prison, Lamar takes heart medication that she will need for the rest of her life.
The challenges facing older women in prison reflect a broader national trend: The U.S. prison population is aging. In 1991, people ages 50 and older accounted for just 3% of the incarcerated population. By 2021, that share had grown to 15%. If current trends continue, one in three people incarcerated in the U.S. could be ages 50 and older by 2030.
The fast-aging population is the result of decades of “tough-on-crime” policies that have had a disproportionate impact on low-income people and people of color. In California, a quarter of incarcerated women are Black, despite representing just 6% of the state’s overall population, found a 2023 report presented by Renae Badruzzaman, senior project manager of Health Instead of Punishment at Health in Partnership.
Structural oppression underlies the background for most women in prison, her report found. Up to 90% of people incarcerated in women’s prisons report having experienced prior emotional, physical or sexual abuse. These factors raise the risk of incarceration, largely due to a lack of resources for mental health support services and non-carceral violence intervention.
California is preparing for its aging prison population with plans to invest $73 billion over the next 20 years in carceral infrastructure, including facilities for hospice care, dementia care and assisted living.
Despite the substantial resources required to incarcerate older adults, they pose relatively little risk to public safety. Fewer than 8% of people ages 50 to 59 return to prison within three years of release. Among those ages 60 and older, that figure drops to less than 5%.
“Releasing 740 elders from the women’s prisons will help to address the advancing crisis of a rapidly aging prison population,” Fadem said.
Story from AHPA can be found here.
