Supervision officers should work with transition planners and community-based providers to ensure that people leaving prison and jails secure appropriate housing and do not become homeless upon their release. Research shows that living in homeless shelters after release from prison or jail increases the risk that individuals will return to prison or will abscond from supervision. ^[1]   Additionally, homelessness can exacerbate medical, psychiatric, or substance abuse issues. Supervision officers may also find individuals who are homeless harder to supervise; such individuals may be difficult or impossible to monitor using standard supervision techniques such as unannounced drop-in visits, and locating them may require additional time and resources.

Despite the dangers associated with homelessness and shelter involvement for released inmates, in many states and localities homeless shelters are the default housing for individuals released from prison or jail at the time of re-entry or shortly thereafter. Given the negative impact and tremendous costs associated with using shelters as default housing, policymakers should establish policies and practices that seek to limit the number of people who become homeless and enter emergency shelters in the first place. Although the limited availability of housing options makes it difficult to realize this goal, many states and localities have managed to employ strategies to divert people leaving prisons and jails from shelters. For example, in some jurisdictions, community corrections officials inspect the safety and security of housing that an inmate reports he or she will be using upon release. Such advance work is the first step towards preventing homelessness among re-entering inmates.

Example: Housing inspections, Minnesota Department of Corrections' Community Services Division

In Minnesota, corrections staff from the Community Services Division of the Department of Corrections conduct annual reviews of all facilities that the work-release program contracts with for case management and boarding of work-release participants, including halfway houses and boarding and lodging establishments. Annual reviews cover housing safety issues as well as the quality of on-site supervision and case management services. Housing inspections are also a part of the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) for high-risk offenders. Supervision officers investigate each ISP participant's proposed residence prior to his or her release from prison.

More comprehensive or systemic measures also exist to ensure that individuals do not become homeless or enter shelters after leaving prison or jail. Some communities have begun undertaking strategic planning efforts to prevent and end homelessness, including among people leaving the criminal justice system. For example, in Massachusetts, the Task Force on Housing and Homelessness established by the Governor included a Working Group on Discharge Planning. In its report, the group identified cross-system initiatives to improve housing outcomes for individuals released from prison and jail in Massachusetts and identified the avoidance of homelessness for this population as an important interagency goal. ^[2]   This policy initiated a strategic effort to identify safer forms of housing for re-entering adults and prompted the criminal justice system to establish set-aside agreements with substance abuse treatment organizations and other providers of transitional housing. In addition, since the establishment of the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness in 2002, more than 120 cities have initiated the process of developing 10-Year Plans to end chronic homelessness. ^[3]  

While transition planners may be limited in their ability to work with individuals after release, supervision officers and community-based service providers should continue to work together to ensure that individuals connect with and remain in stable housing. Preventing homelessness among people released from prison or jail requires understanding the nature and needs of this population. By integrating information systems and coordinating client procedures, departments of corrections and assistance agencies for homeless people can better understand the population that returns to and frequently "uses" both systems and can begin to identify the appropriate services needed to end the cycle of homelessness and incarceration among them. (See Policy Statement 19, Housing, for more on establishing relationships to secure housing for people released from prison or jail).

Even the most thoughtful transition planning and comprehensive service delivery cannot prevent all people released from prison or jail from entering into homelessness. For this reason, communities should couple their efforts to prevent homelessness before someone is released with measures to support people released to the community who are headed toward homelessness. For example, specialized drop-in centers and community-based service centers can prevent homelessness among many people by catching them when they are first released, during the most vulnerable phase of re-entry.

Example: Drop-In Center, Fortune Society (NY)

The Fortune Society has a 24-hour drop-in center in Queens for prisoners released from Rikers Island. The drop-in center stations staff to "meet and greet" at prisoner drop-off points in Queens and Manhattan. Vans provide transportation for individuals interested in visiting the center, where there are counselors to conduct needs assessments and connect individuals with support services including emergency housing at Fortune Academy. Hot meals are always available at the center, as well as a few spare beds.