In an effort to understand the dimensions of the housing challenge and how it relates to the reentry process, the Returning Home study has examined the housing arrangements of recently released prisoners, as well as the relationship between these arrangements and the successes and challenges of the reentry process. In addition, the Urban Institute has researched housing programs for returning prisoners and the ways in which housing and criminal justice agencies can effectively work together to address the housing needs of this population.
Recent Findings from the Urban Institute on Housing and Reentry
- The majority of prisoners believe that having a stable place to live is important to successful reentry. Those with no housing arrangements believe that they will need help finding a place to live after release. In their prerelease interview, three-quarters of both the Illinois and Maryland Returning Home respondents stated that having a place to live would be an important factor in staying out of prison. Of all Returning Home respondents who did not have housing arrangements lined up in prison, over 70 percent reported that they would need some help or a lot of help finding a place to live (see supporting text 1, 2, 3, 4).
- The majority of returning prisoners live with family members and/or intimate partners upon release. Three months after release, 88 percent of the Returning Home respondents in Illinois and nearly 60 percent of those in Maryland were living with a family member and/or intimate partner. Between 63 and 78 percent of respondents in Ohio and Texas anticipated living with a family member upon release.
- Many former prisoners return home to living arrangements that are only temporary. Overall, one-third of Illinois Returning Home respondents returned home to temporary living arrangements. About one in five reported living at more than one address after being in the community for one to three months, and by six to eight months after release, 31 percent had lived at more than one address. Furthermore, more than half of Illinois respondents believed they would not be staying in their current neighborhood for long. Maryland Returning Home respondents reported similar expectations of relocating six months after release, with over half expecting to leave their current location within weeks or months.
- Housing options for returning prisoners who do not stay with family members or friends are extremely limited. Potential housing options for former prisoners include community-based correctional housing facilities; transitional housing; federally subsidized and administered housing; homeless assistance supportive housing, service-enhanced housing, and special needs housing supported through HUD; and the private market. However, most of these options are extremely limited and often unavailable to formerly incarcerated people. A Rhode Island focus group of service providers and former prisoners overwhelmingly agreed that the shortage of affordable and available housing is an enormous problem for returning prisoners.
- Practitioners and researchers agree that there are few evidence-based reentry housing programs that target returning prisoners with mental illness. Thousands of persons with mental illness exit prisons and jails each year, and research has found that adequate housing for this population can enhance their ability to become self-sufficient and avoid future justice system contact. However, few programs provide housing for releasees with mental health problems, and there is no body of compelling evidence regarding the most effective components of such housing programs.
