Reentry

Each year, some 650,000 people leave state and federal prisons, and many times that number leave local jails. Some remain under corrections supervision, while others have served their sentences and have no further supports from the corrections system.

Housing problems, including homelessness, are common among this group. These individuals tend to have incomes that are low, and they experience barriers to obtaining housing through the channels that are open to other low-income people. One result is that one in five people who leave prison becomes homeless soon thereafter, if not immediately. In fact, a study by the California Department of Corrections reports that, in major urban areas such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, the percentage of parolees who are homeless is as high as 30 to 50 percent at any given time. And preliminary studies indicate that those who leave prison and become homeless are substantially more likely than those with stable housing to return to prison.

Effective models have emerged for addressing this problem. One is known as “reentry housing,” which is subsidized housing with associated intensive support services directed especially toward people with disabilities. According to a cost analysis by the Corporation for Supportive Housing, a single reentry housing unit in New York used by two people over one year can save $20,000 to $24,000 relative to the cost of release to shelter and re-incarceration.

Another effective model involves working with the extended families of people leaving prison. Approximately 80 percent of people leaving prison go to live with family members, at least initially. Many of these situations quickly become unstable, with homelessness a common result. Work by the Vera Institute of Justice, however, has demonstrated that a modest amount of services directed toward these families can have a stabilizing impact, preventing both homelessness and recidivism.

Federal law has placed restrictions on the ability of people returning from prison to utilize Section 8 and Public Housing, and has authorized Public Housing Agencies to impose substantially more restrictions on them. These restrictions are often supported by tenants’ groups.

People about to leave jail or prison with no place to live are generally eligible for services from HUD’s homelessness programs, but HUD has decided that they will not immediately be eligible for permanent housing through these programs. This is part of an attempt to prevent corrections agencies from relying on homeless assistance programs to meet their responsibilities for housing people exiting the corrections system.