Severely Ill Prisoners in Hawai‘i Denied Early Release Due to State Policy
by Michael Dean Thompson
As of June 2026, at least four prisoners are stuck in prison despite having been granted compassionate parole by the Hawaii Paroling Authority. The prisoners are currently living in the prison infirmary because long-term care facilities have been unwilling to accept them, according to the parole authority.
Molly Crane, an attorney for FAMM, an organization that advocates for fairness in prison policies, told CBS News that it is a challenge across the country. Long-term care facilities nationwide tend to refuse to accept former prisoners due to perceived risk of violence. The CEO of Hawaii Health Systems Corp.’s Oahu Region, Sean Sanada, oversees the region’s two state-funded, long-term facilities. Despite having received dozens of referrals for compassionate release parolees, he has never accepted any of them. He makes the contradictory claims that his facilities do not discriminate based on where the person has been and that his concern for his staff’s safety adds to his lack of resources to care for the patient. He told CBS News, “The risk is just too high in most of those instances.” But most does not explain all.
One 2024 study quoted by CBS News tracked 14 assisted living facilities and found that 15% of the residents experienced resident-to-resident aggression. However, the type of aggression was not indicated and might have been anything from the emotional outburst of a dementia patient or the swing of a cane, and anything in-between. Nevertheless, at least one of the patients awaiting a bed lacks a violent conviction. The 52-year-old is instead serving time for drug possession, driving a stolen car, and jumping bail. And still, he was denied.
It costs the state of Hawai‘i $112,505 each year to house a prisoner. For someone with complex needs, the cost skyrockets to as much as eight times that number. Yet, Hawaii Health Systems Corp. is reimbursed $135,000 a year for its patients, a significant savings for taxpayers.
Four states actually plan ahead and contract to companies that will take their prisoners who are granted compassionate release. MissionCare Health of the iCare Health Network has contracted in three such states to take those patients. David Skoczulek, iCare’s vice president of business development and communication, said that his company charges anywhere from $100 to $350 more per day for those patients than the average nursing home rates, making it a more lucrative business. If that rate difference held true in Hawai‘i, it would still come in at around half the cost of leaving the patient in prison.
When the state fails to find somewhere for the patient to go, families are left with some tough choices. Hawai‘i will release the prisoners to family, but they may lack the resources and/or ability to care for their loved ones. Crane told CBS News, “The absence of a compassionate release statute means that people who need compassionate release languish and even die in prison.”
Sources: CBS News, FAMM
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