Decarcerating correctional facilities during COVID-19 advancing health, equity, and safety

The conditions and characteristics of correctional facilities -- overcrowded with rapid population turnover, often in old and poorly ventilated structures, a spatially concentrated pattern of releases and admissions in low-income communities of color, and a health care system that is siloed from com...

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (U.S.) Committee on the Best Practices for Implementing Decarceration as a Strategy to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19 in Correctional Facilities
Other Authors: Schuck, Julie Anne (Editor), Backes, Emily P. (Editor), Western, Bruce (Editor), Wang, Emily A. (Editor)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, DC The National Academies Press [2020], 2020
Series:Consensus study report
Online Access:
Collection: National Center for Biotechnology Information - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:The conditions and characteristics of correctional facilities -- overcrowded with rapid population turnover, often in old and poorly ventilated structures, a spatially concentrated pattern of releases and admissions in low-income communities of color, and a health care system that is siloed from community public health -- accelerates transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for COVID-19. Such conditions increase the risk of coming into contact with the virus for incarcerated people, correctional staff, and their families and communities. Relative to the general public, moreover, incarcerated individuals have a higher prevalence of chronic health conditions such as asthma, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, making them susceptible to complications should they become infected. Indeed, cumulative COVID-19 case rates among incarcerated people and correctional staff have grown steadily higher than case rates in the general population. Decarcerating Correctional Facilities during COVID-19 offers guidance on efforts to decarcerate, or reduce the incarcerated population, as a response to COIVD-19 pandemic. This report examines best practices for implementing decarceration as a response to the pandemic and the conditions that support safe and successful reentry of those decarcerated
Physical Description:1 PDF file (xiv, 146 pages) illustrations
ISBN:0309683572
9780309683579