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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for ex-offenders, housing
6 results foundAuthor: Zillah, Alice Title: Re-Entry Housing Pilot Project: Offender Concentration Report Summary: The Washington State Re-Entry Housing Pilot Program (RHPP)is charged with the responsibility for providing grants to eligible organizations that offer housing and services to high-risk and high-need felony offenders who have been released from jail or prison and are still under supervision. In some cases, the community in which an applicant organization wants to site housing for released offenders resists the placement because of concerns about concentration or over-concentration of offenders in that community. This report examines similar re-entry housing programs in other states, and investigates whether there are best practices of successful policies from other states/jurisdictions that RHPP should consider adopting to address this challenge. Details: Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, 2008. 45p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 117631 Keywords: Ex-Offenders, HousingHousingReentry |
Author: Black, Kendall Title: New Beginnings: The Need for Supportive Housing for Previously Incarcerated People Summary: Persons exiting the criminal justice system contribute significantly to the growing number of homeless individuals throughout the United States. Supportive housing has proven itself the most cost effective strategy to end homelessness, but the supply of units is extremely limited. It is in the interest of city, state, and federal criminal justice systems to take the lead in providing capital and operating support to enable the creation of supportive housing for ex-offenders in partnership with non-profit organizations. Supportive housing for ex-offenders is critical at this time when homelessness is rising. The number of individuals released from prisons is 300% greater than it was twenty years ago. In order to prevent ex-offenders from further contributing to the overall homeless population, we must first understand why many re-enter communities with no housing or prospect of housing. Some of those reasons include: • Many are discharged without having received needed assistance, from the most basic, such as attaining photo identification, to the most specialized, including medical and mental health services. • Because the lengths of incarceration are longer than they were twenty years ago, persons exiting prisons have more difficulty readjusting to life outside a correctional facility. • Many are unable to cope with the new stresses and differences of life outside a correctional institution, which is often manifested in re-arrest. • Many are likely not to have participated in prison-based programs such as vocational training, education, or drug treatment, leaving them inadequately prepared to succeed on their own. • Many return to a relatively few disadvantaged urban communities where the prevalence of crime and lack of legal, living wage employment opportunities are disproportionately greater than in other areas of the U.S. In urban centers, such as New York City, between 30-50% of parolees are homeless. Many ex-offenders who always had stable housing in the past have a difficult time finding and keeping housing once released. With little to no discharge planning prior to release, many newly released prisoners tend to return to or enter the shelter system. Housing placement must be part of reentry services provided to released offenders. Without homes, ex-offenders struggle to tackle the many other issues that they face upon re-entry to the community. Persons in and exiting incarceration experience significant disadvantages: • 65% of state prison inmates have not completed high school. • Over one-third of all inmates report having some physical or mental disability. • 20-26% of all HIV/AIDS cases in the U.S. were releasees from correctional facilities; releasees with hepatitis B accounted for 12-16% of all cases in the U.S.; releasees with hepatitis C accounted for 29-32% of all cases in the U.S.; and those with tuberculosis accounted for 38% of all cases in the U.S. • 70-85% of state prisoners are in need of drug treatment, however only 13% receive it while incarcerated. As of December 31, 2002, 1,440,655 inmates were under federal or state jurisdiction in the United States. In 1999, nearly 600,000 individuals were released from state and federal prisons and returned to their communities. Of these individuals released, 67.5% were rearrested for a new crime and 51.8% were sent back to prison within 3 years after release. In New York City, nearly 75% of the inmates released from Rikers Island jail return within one year. According to the Vera Institute, approximately 350 inmates are released into New York City every day. In New York City, it is common for released prisoners to be dropped off at Queens Plaza in Queens or the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan before dawn with only a few dollars and subway fare. The immediate needs of ex-offenders, including food stamps, methadone, emergency cash, or a shelter bed therefore cannot be met. Supportive housing providers report that significant numbers of tenants are ex-offenders. Unfortunately, these numbers have not been formally tracked since the tenants came to supportive housing through the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), and historically, DHS does not keep records of the number of ex-offenders served. Nonetheless, ex-prisoners have been integrated into supportive housing and have thrived therein, along with the overwhelming majority of other supportive housing tenants. The success of supportive housing in helping ex-offenders become productive members of society demonstrates that it is an effective re-entry housing option for this population. Details: New York: Corporation for Supportive Housing and Common Ground, 2004. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://www.commonground.org/org_info/media/press_releases/CGC_ex-offender.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.commonground.org/org_info/media/press_releases/CGC_ex-offender.pdf Shelf Number: 122577 Keywords: Ex-Offenders, HousingParoleesPrisoner Reentry |
Author: Lutze, Faith E. Title: Washington State's Reentry Housing Pilot Program Evaluation: Year 1 Report Summary: These preliminary findings suggest that Washington State has successfully implemented the Reentry Housing Pilot Program (RHPP). When compared to the characteristics identified by national evaluations of successful reentry programs, the RHPP providers have identified the key components necessary to enhance the likelihood of success for high risk offenders reentering the community from prison or jail. Each pilot site combines wrap around services, treatment, and offender accountability with the provision of affordable and safe housing. This report provides descriptive findings for the first year of RHPP operation and a summary of the ongoing research plan. Details: Pullman, WA: Washington State University, Criminal Justice Program, 2009. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2011 at: http://www.commerce.wa.gov/DesktopModules/CTEDPublications/CTEDPublicationsView.aspx?tabID=0&ItemID=7077&MId=870&wversion=Staging Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.commerce.wa.gov/DesktopModules/CTEDPublications/CTEDPublicationsView.aspx?tabID=0&ItemID=7077&MId=870&wversion=Staging Shelf Number: 122642 Keywords: Ex-Offenders, HousingPrisoner Reentry (Washington State)Rehabilitation |
Author: Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People's Movement Title: Communities, Evictions, and Criminal Convictions: Public Housing and Disparate Impact: A Model Policy Summary: This report is broken into five primary pieces, along with an Introduction and conclusion. Section I: Introduction provides a starting point on the topic of public housing and criminal conviction policies, rooting this issue in one particular city. New Orleans tangles with the most intense incarceration in America, and thus the world. Seemingly innocent programs related to criminal convictions, can take on a primary role in a city such as New Orleans, where one in seven Black men is either in prison, on parole or probation. To fully grasp the community impact of affordable housing barriers in this sphere, one must account for arrest, incarceration, and poverty rates. Particular to civil rights law, one should factor in the proportionality between recognized ethnic and language groups. It is no mystery that in New Orleans, policies that affect people impacted by the criminal justice system (both individuals and families) are disproportionately affecting people of Color- especially African-Americans. The contrasting affect is most glaring when comparing the drug enforcement policies of densely populated, overwhelmingly White, college students. The excuse of 'experimentation' has been reserved for a certain segment of young drug users. Public housing exclusion standards apply to entire families, thus the impact is far broader than the tens of thousands who are formerly convicted, whether incarcerated or not. Statistics typically fail to account for those who are no longer serving a punishment, yet they too have a criminal history that impacts their ability to obtain housing or employment. Hurricane Katrina exasperated the dilemma of a public housing shortage, and rebuilding efforts have intentionally been below previous capacity. There are now over 27,000 households on the waiting list for affordable housing, putting pressure on other services to deal with homelessness. In Section II, this report provides a brief overview on housing and policing policies within the context of The War on Drugs. The primary method of encouraging 'drug free' behavior has been punishment, while the primary mode of enforcement has been to focus on densely populated low-income communities of Color. The exclusions and evictions from public housing has been accelerated along with the escalation of the War on Drugs. Accordingly, it may make sense for a recession of the punitive policies to span all fronts as widespread de-escalation is afoot in response to the growing sentiment that the War on Drugs has been a failure. The goal of Forced Sobriety has justified highly-policed communities and a massive construction boom (and employment growth) associated with prison expansion. The Department of Justice estimates that nearly 7% of all people born after 2001 will serve time in state or federal prison; this is on top of the 65 million people who currently have been convicted of a crime. If current rates continue, about 1 in 17 White men, 1 in 6 Hispanic men, and 1 in 3 African American men are expected to serve prison time in their lifetime. It is difficult to imagine anyone in the public sphere being satisfied with these statistics. The history of public housing, and HUD, includes an acknowledged discrimination over time. The 1.1 million remaining public housing units, and 2.2 million households assisted by vouchers, must be implemented in a manner consistent with HUD's mission to support community development. HUD has long been a partner with local policing efforts. This partnership deserves scrutiny in the same manner as the police, as overly aggressive tactics have become (in some opinions) more destructive than the harms they purport to reduce. Section III looks at how government actors are evolving on criminal justice, and new policies are competing with the 'Tough on Crime' reactionary rhetoric. The National Reentry Council is an interagency approach to confront the effects of mass incarceration. The most active agency among them, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has been dealing with employment issues for decades, and the agency's 2012 policy change regarding the use of criminal records in hiring is a major breakthrough. The EEOC provided one of the most significant advances in recent Civil Rights law, and they make specific findings regarding national data. Specifically, the EEOC finds that the criminal justice system disproportionately impacts Black and Latino people in America. This is significant when assessing a neutral policy under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, and any blanket policy using criminal history alone to exclude people will run afoul of Title VII. The EEOC provides a framework to guide policies in both the public and private sector. Courts have held that the various Civil Rights statutes are intended to work as a unified framework, thus developments in employment law can be persuasive regarding similar issues in housing law. Section IV lays out the complex web of laws that serve as Congressional guidance to local public housing authorities (PHA), regarding the exclusions and evictions from subsidized programs. Ultimately, HUD allows broad discretion to the local PHA. By comparing policies to the HUD requirements, and comparing them to each other, it is clear that overly restrictive, and extremely vague, policies are guiding decisions that have a far-reaching affect on community housing. When HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan put out a clear statement, that only two types of crimes are barred from HUD, few local agencies took any action. Only people convicted of sex offenses, and on a Registry for life, along with those who manufactured methamphetamines on federal property, are barred from public housing. Congress makes particular exclusions optional beyond that, generally related to drug use. If someone was previously evicted for a drug related crime, they are faced with a three-year ban unless the offending family member is in prison, dead, or completed a drug rehabilitation program. However, community members around the country have been dealing with policies that don't provide for those nuances. A model admission and eviction policy is included. This policy is currently being used as a starting point for changes in New Orleans, and has gotten past a public hearing stage. It addresses the need for the PHA to be part of a system where mentally ill and addicted people are directed towards help rather than prisons and homelessness. The phrase 'Reasonable Time' is reasonably defined, eliminating the extreme lengths of time people are facing around the country before eligibility for affordable housing. The Housing Authority of New Orleans is currently working to develop and finalize a policy in accordance with these principals. Section V is a detailed assessment of housing discrimination under federal law. It also includes a proposed change (as of this writing) of HUD's policy, by finally providing a federal code regarding disparate impact in housing. Disparate impact is when a neutral policy becomes discriminatory- such as using drug convictions to exclude people from public housing. Whereas studies indicate drug use is similar across all identified races, the chosen policing patterns result in an overwhelming percentage of drug convictions concentrated in Black and Latino communities. All additional penalties attached, based on those convictions, will disproportionately impact Black and Latino people. Thus, 'Disparate Impact.' Courts have long transferred disparate impact theory between employment and housing, but at times differed on the proper standards and process. It is important for advocates to gain a full understanding of disparate impact theory. This is likely to serve as a legal framework for pushing back against a myriad of criminal justice policies that have resulted in the systemic loss of economic and political power among Black and Latino communities. The EEOC has found four key factors so that employers may design an acceptable 'targeted screen,'rather than a blanket policy subject to civil rights lawsuits. These factors are (1) Nature of the crime; (2) Time elapsed; (3) Nature of the job; and (4) Individual assessment. Housing providers, particularly where there is a documented shortage of affordable housing (i.e. New Orleans), should develop a similar screen suitable to residential life. Section VI focuses on the key elements to make a legal case for dispirate impact in the courts. Those who are not interested in litigating a claim will nonetheless want to appropriate some of the standards and justifications that the courts have developed as consistent with the constitution. One complication in presenting 'impact' data is that many people with criminal records (and their families) do not apply for public housing. Most people have 'heard' you can't get in with a felony, to some degree of accuracy or another. Even if they were fully knowledgeable about the waiting periods, it is impossible to know how many are foreclosed because they would need to not know the policy, apply anyway, and be denied. Thus, data of this sort may require a study of the potential (rather than actual) applicants who are deemed ineligible solely due to criminal convictions. If Black residents have a rate below 80% of the White residents' rate, it is likely to be deemed sufficiently 'disparate.' Under disparate impact litigation, housing providers would need to present the court with their substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interests being served by the exclusion policies. Furthermore, they will be tasked to show that the exclusions actually serve the goal: Resident safety. This cannot merely be speculation. Finally, reformers can still prove victorious by showing that the interests (i.e. resident safety) can be achieved in a less discriminatory manner. PHA's who understand this civil rights litigation framework are more likely to recognize that a court may ultimately order them to a negotiating position exactly like the one being offered at the outset. Delaying the adoption of a new policy by requiring the court order is the least cost-efficient way forward. This report recognizes that there is a movement to repeal Civil Rights protections for people of Color in America. Although Justice Antonin Scalia famously referred to the protection of voting rights as 'just another racial entitlement,' the sentiments of state and federal policymakers suggest that Civil Rights are not going to be eroded. Racial disproportion is one manner of addressing the problems of discrimination, and is the primary path outlined in this report. As criminal records impact a larger swath of America, however, new legal arguments will emerge regarding the rationale to continue, or repeal, this framework that supports two separate citizenships. The Appendix provides the complete proposed policy for the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and a nationwide sample snapshot of six other cities. Details: Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People's Movement, 2013. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 23, 2014 at: http://ficpmovement.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/communities-evictions-criminal-convictions.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://ficpmovement.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/communities-evictions-criminal-convictions.pdf Shelf Number: 132744 Keywords: Ex-OffendersEx-Offenders, HousingPrisoner Reentry |
Author: Malloch, Margaret Title: The Elements of Effective Through-Care. Part 1: International Review Summary: This report forms Part 1 of a two-part review of the elements of effective through-care. It examines the international evidence in order to identify practice that appears to be effective, alongside areas that may hinder effective interventions. Part 2 examines this evidence alongside a review of practice in Scotland. The available evidence, consisting of international research and practice evaluations, clearly highlights the practical issues that prisoners experience at the point of release and transition into the community. These issues often appear more entrenched for short-term prisoners for whom rates of reconviction are highest. The review confirms that already existing difficulties in areas such as accommodation, income, employment, drug and alcohol problems can actually deteriorate after release from custody, and imprisonment may serve to further marginalise particular groups (for example women, young and elderly prisoners, and minority ethnic groups). While programmes in prison may help prepare prisoners for release, according to international research and evaluations these programmes will have greater impact if stable accommodation and employment opportunities are available in the community. Reductions in reoffending appear to be directly related to the availability of support following release, with international evidence suggesting that after-care may be as important as the provision of interventions during the period of custody. Through-care is intended to ensure processes are in place to support prisoners as they move back into their local communities and, to some extent, mitigate the worst effects of detrimental social and economic factors which affect the lives of many people processed by the criminal justice system. There is significant variation regarding the legislative context of through-care provision which can consist of both policy and statutory bases; varying across countries but also across regions and local states within a national framework. The provision of support at this transitional stage can reduce the likelihood of reoffending. Internationally, challenges to the provision of through-care arise from fragmentation of services, under-funding and a limited evidence base for service development. While this review drew on an extensive range of international literature, there are a number of limitations in the evidence available and very little evidence of outcomes obtained as a direct result of through-care services. Differences are evident between academic or independent reviews of through-care provision and project evaluations or policy analysis. Different methodological approaches can also hamper attempts to consider evidence comparatively and an over-reliance on reconviction data often obscures many of the 'softer' measures which are present in the process of (re)-integration. However, despite these caveats, there is sufficient evidence from which a number of conclusions may be drawn with regard to through-care provision. Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research, 2013. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Report No. 03/2013: Accessed July 28, 2014 at: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/International_Through-care_Review.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/International_Through-care_Review.pdf Shelf Number: 132806 Keywords: AftercareEx-Offender EmploymentEx-Offenders, HousingPrisoner ReentryPrisoner Reintegration |
Author: Reichert, Jessica Title: Housing and Services After Prison: Evaluation of the St. Leonard's House Reentry Program Summary: More than 500,000 individuals are released from prison each year. As they return to their communities, they face obstacles in finding employment and housing, as well as significant debt, outstanding fines, and restitution payments. Two-thirds of this population are arrested again within three years. St. Leonard's House in Chicago offers voluntary, supportive housing for men exiting prison. Program clients receive housing, substance abuse treatment, psychological services, life skills, mentoring, and education and vocational services. Authority researchers used qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, as well as quasi-experimental design and advanced statistical analysis, to examine outcomes after program participation, including arrests, convictions, incarcerations, and employment. Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2016. 109p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 1, 2017 at: http://www.icjia.org/assets/articles/SLH%20FINAL%2011-16-16.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.icjia.org/assets/articles/SLH%20FINAL%2011-16-16.pdf Shelf Number: 146033 Keywords: Ex-Offenders, HousingHousingPrisoner Reentry |