The convicts are well behaved, and staff have received special training to work with them, said Wendy Morris, a coordinator at the long-term nursing facility. When a child is at the facility, for instance, sex offenders are told to go their rooms and shut the door.
Fairview's experience, however, may be the exception, said Ann Hart, who testified Wednesday in favor of a bill that would require the Utah Department of Corrections to notify long-term care facilities and their residents before a parolee is admitted.
Hart, a former Salt Lake County ombudsmen, said other long-term nursing facilities have had bad experiences with their parolees. One man, a convicted sex offender, was caught giving candy to a child sitting on his lap. Another reportedly shoplifted craft supplies. Still others beat up care workers and assailed residents with canes and walkers.
"Young nurses and other [staff] are not trained to work with criminals and are generally considered vulnerable themselves," she said.
In other states, the problem has escalated into legal battles, Hart said. In 2004, for example, Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch sued a Minneapolis nursing home for accepting sex offenders, alleging that they jeopardized the health and safety of its vulnerable adult patients.
Under House Bill 125 - which the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee unanimously passed Wednesday - not only would Corrections have to notify nursing facilities 10 days in advance of a parolee's arrival, but also the staff would be required to tell the residents or their guardians. They would not, however, be required to disclose the parolee's name or medical condition.
The legislation is critically needed, Hart said, in light of the growing number of aging inmates whom state prisons are unable to care for because of a lack of money and room. As the situation intensifies, more inmates will be paroled early for outside medical care.
Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, the bill's sponsor, said Utah is among the top six states in the country for the growing number of aging people. The state is tied with Minnesota for longest life expectancy. And the change in demographics is occurring on both sides of prison walls.
In the past six years, the number of elderly inmates at the Utah State Prison has risen 67 percent while the overall population increased just 11 percent, said Richard Garden, Corrections' clinical director. Most of them were 55 or older when they were sentenced to prison, and about 61 percent were convicted of a sex offense.
Corrections Director Scott Carver, who testified in favor of the bill, said between six and 10 inmates with terminal or chronic illnesses are paroled early and admitted to long-term care facilities each year. Ultimately, the Board of Pardons and Parole makes that decision.
"If there is an incident, or the person makes a miraculous recovery and should actually continue their incarceration, they can be brought back [to prison]," Carver said.
Morris, at the Fairview Care Center, worries the bill would unnecessarily alarm other residents of the facilities and cause them to ostracize the parolees, many of whom are trying to turn their lives around.
"We feel like they paid their debt to society and they should have an opportunity to succeed the second time around," she said.
One convict at Fairview is president of the residents' council, Morris said. The other recently married, and was welcomed into a large, loving family.
"These guys are part of our family now."
lrosetta@sltrib.com
