By: Genie Jackson, PhD, Research Team Lead, equivant Supervision
Compassionate release – the early release of incarcerated individuals due to serious illness, advanced age, or extraordinary circumstances – has gained momentum as a means to promote a more humane approach to incarceration (1). This compassionate approach recognizes that the dignity and well-being of medically frail individuals are often better served in settings that provide appropriate medical care while allowing them to maintain connections with family and community – whether at home with support services or in specialized care facilities. A further benefit to compassionate release on the grounds of medical frailty is the reduction in healthcare costs to the prison system. Below we discuss how one client worked with the equivant Research Department to answer process-related questions that impact their ability to efficiently evaluate an individual’s qualifications for compassionate release.
The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), like many state correctional systems, has some medically frail individuals under their care. This designation applies to persons whose health conditions require specialized medical care that prisons may struggle to provide effectively. These individuals typically have chronic illnesses, disabilities, or terminal conditions requiring constant medical attention and assistance with daily activities.
In 2019, the state of Michigan passed a law (HB 4129 of 2019) to expedite parole for some medically frail prisoners for treatment (see (2) and (3)). Among other qualifications, persons applying for compassionate release under this law must have received a recidivism risk score of “low” on a validated risk assessment. MDOC considers two categories of recidivism when evaluating recidivism risk: non-violent felony offense (Non-VFO) and violent felony offense (VFO) within three years of community start. To begin applying this law, MDOC sought to answer the question of whether the condition of medically frail, diagnosed and affirmed by a medical doctor, along with all other qualifications within HB 4129 (and HBs 4130-4132, also passed in 2019) is enough to classify a person as low risk. What risk do such individuals pose to public safety?
To help answer this question, MDOC engaged equivant Supervision’s in-house research department to determine felony rates for individuals released from prison early due to physician-assessed classifications of medical frailty. Data were provided by MDOC that identified persons who had been released either through a medical fragility classification of D48 or by commutation of the governor at the time following consideration of the person’s medical condition, as well as other details like outcomes and outcome dates. Official records from MDOC’s offender management system and Michigan State Police were examined to confirm start dates and any subsequent events indicating felony outcomes during release.
Both samples were found to have low felony recidivism rates that were within the bounds established by MDOC for low Risk in the COMPAS Non-VFO and VFO conviction-based risk scales. Six of the 561 persons with D48 classifications whose records could be verified were arrested for a felony offense following their compassionate release. Twenty-five others experienced a less-serious event (absconding, technical violation, or arrest for misdemeanor). The viable sample for persons who were granted commutations for medical conditions was sixty-eight (68). There were no arrests for felony offenses experienced by this group. There were five less-serious events that occurred during release. Confidence intervals for the resulting rate estimates were also provided. These results suggest that the felony recidivism rates for people released to medical supervision because of medical frailty are quite low. In addition, these results informed a subsequent iteration of the risk assessment tool.
Findings like these, although a microcosm of the system at large, suggest that well-considered processes for medically frail designations and releases can be implemented safely to help provide cost savings while promoting a more humane approach to incarceration.
According to MDOC, “Like many states, Michigan recognized the challenges of an aging and frail prisoner population. [equivant Supervision’s] research showing the low-risk nature of medically frail cases helped to drive policies allowing for accelerated parole consideration, balancing the needs of the agency, the public, and those incarcerated. While the department did not find the results exactly surprising, the fact that these cases have been directly studied in Michigan helped create an environment in which positive reforms are possible. The state’s medically frail parole law was amended in 2024 to expand eligibility, which could further reduce taxpayer cost for MDOC housing and health care, by safely releasing more individuals back into the care and support of their communities.”
equivant Supervision not only provides best-in-class software to save customers’ time and enhance efficiencies – we also have a full research staff that helps move our customers’ strategies forward and the industry’s paradigm as a whole. For example, results of this study not only helped MDOC but also informed improvements to our risk assessment tool. If your agency is interested in exploring similar research opportunities, please contact Chris Kamin at equivant Supervision or click here.
(1) https://www.ussc.gov/topic/compassionate-release
(3) http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2019-2020/publicact/pdf/2019-PA-0013.pdf
