Compassionate Release: A Call to Social Workers
Published:
| Author: Mary-Louise Parkkila, Stephanie Prost, Stephen Tripodi
An increase in the number of older people incarcerated in prisons has given rise to increased costs of correctional health care. Despite the many benefits of compassionate release, it is rarely used. Citing barriers at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, we contend that social workers are uniquely suited to increase the number of people released through this mechanism owing to a unique knowledge and skill set.