Prison policy group advises rural prisons and jails on how to respond to the pandemic - Entrepreneur Generations

Rural jails and prisons require special consideration in preventing and responding to coronavirus infections, according to a new report from The Vera Institute of Justice: "Responding to the coronavirus poses particular challenges for many rural counties, where people are incarcerated at the highest rates in the United States, and residents have only a fragile or fragmented public health safety net. Since 2013, the rural jail population has grown 27 percent. Simultaneously, a hospital closure crisis has accelerated in rural America; 2019 was the worst year on record, with 19 closures. Actors and authorities in rural counties have a unique and critical role to play."

"Public health and corrections officials have issued dire warnings that cramped and unsanitary conditions could turn prisons into a haven for the virus, endangering not just inmates but also corrections officers and prison health-care workers as well as their families and communities," The Washington Post reports.
Some of the advice the Vera Institute recommends includes releasing as many people as possible to reduce infections, and ensuring that the justice system partners with community health care providers to make sure that people leaving custody can access medical care. Read the rest of the recommendations here.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2USWM3R Prison policy group advises rural prisons and jails on how to respond to the pandemic - Entrepreneur Generations

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