Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

Section II: Incarceration & Its Consequences

Behind the Walls

Let them eat...

  • Cost charged by the Aramark Corporation to feed each Florida prisoner per day349: $2.32
  • Number of years that the California budget for each prisoner's meal has remained unchanged350: 14
  • Expenditure on food per California prisoner per day351: $2.45
  • Average expenditure on food in the United States per person per day, 2001352: $8.12
graph showing the amount spent on food per day for food for florida prisoners, california prisoners and he average american

Prisoner health

  • Percent of jails that do not provide mental health evaluations of their prisoners353: 40%
  • Percent of prisons that do not provide mental health evaluations of their prisoners354: 17%
  • Percent of state and federal prisons that do not comply with mandatory Tuberculosis screening regulations355: 10%
  • Percent of local jails that do not comply with mandatory Tuberculosis screening regulations356: 50%
  • Number of Tuberculosis infections detected in admitted prisoners in 2000357: 21,598
  • Estimated number of active tuberculosis cases that would be prevented for every 100,000 prisoners tested and treated for TB358: 989
  • Maximum estimate of percent of jail inmates screened for syphilis359: 25%
  • Costs that could be averted, in dollars, for every 10,000 prisoners given routine syphilis screening and treatment360: $1.6 million
  • Percent of prisoners known to be positive for HIV, 2000361: 2.0%
  • Percent of U.S. population estimated to be positive for HIV362: 0.3%
  • Percent of male prisoners known to be positive for HIV, 2000363: 2.0%
  • Percent of female prisoners known to be positive for HIV364: 3.6%
  • Of prisoner deaths, percent that are AIDS related365: 6%
  • Percent of New York state prisoners known to be HIV positive, 2000366: 8.5%
  • Number of confirmed AIDS cases per 10,000 prisoners, 2000367: 52
  • Number of confirmed AIDS cases per 10,000 U.S. residents, 2000368: 13
  • Estimated number of HIV cases that would be prevented for every 10,000 prisoners offered HIV testing and counseling369: 3
  • Estimated number of times prisoners are infected with Hepatitis C compared to the general population370: 9-10

Older prisoners

  • Number of prisoners over age 55 in California371: 5,800
  • Number of times it is more expensive to incarcerate a prisoner over age 55, compared to a younger prisoner372: 3
  • Percent of men paroled after age 55 who return to prison373: 2%

Education programs in prisons

  • Percent of prison wardens that strongly support educational and vocational programming374: 93%
  • Percent of state prisons that offer vocational training, 2000375: 55.7%
  • Percent of state prisoners that have participated in GED/high school programs while in prison, 1997376: 23.4%
  • Percent of state prisoners that have participated in college courses while in prison, 1997377: 9.9%
  • Percent of state prisoners that have participated in vocational training programs while in prison, 1997378: 32.2%
  • Minimum number of college programs in prisons in the United States, 1982379: 350
  • In a 1991 New York study, percent of prisoners who enrolled in a college program, did not complete it, and then were released who returned to prison380: 44.6%
  • In a 1991 New York study, percent of prisoners who completed a college program who returned to prison381: 26.4%
  • Year Congress and President Clinton denied prisoners access to Pell Grants, inspiring most states to eliminate prisoner eligibility for state tuition grants382: 1994
  • In 2001, there were less than this number of college programs in prison383: 12

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..