NCJ Number
193054
Date Published
March 2001
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This document presents the first steps that will lead to long-term change in providing offenders with adequate housing.
Abstract
Offenders released from jails and prisons are increasingly finding that they cannot gain access to suitable housing. The result is they sleep in cars, emergency housing, cohabitate with other felons in substandard housing, or live a vagrant lifestyle. With the label of “offender” they are branded as a poor risk to accept on a rental lease. Many offenders are subsequently being revoked and returned to incarceration. The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) held four focus groups sessions over the fall of 2000. Each session was attended by over 60 city, county, and State officials along with case managers, housing advocates, and service providers. Some of the findings were: (1) the lack of access to appropriate housing for offenders resulted in diminished public safety; (2) offenders evoke a level of concern among property managers that made access to housing almost insurmountable; (3) helping systems did not always coordinate or communicate with each other; (4) specialized offender housing was not geographically disbursed appropriately; and (5) creative solutions were necessary to solve the problem. One of the recommendations of the DOC was improving system coordination/communication by establishing an interagency work group to review and recommend changes in policies and practices. Another was to increase public awareness of the issue of offender housing. Others were exploring short-term emergency sex offender housing options, assessing social and health needs of the offender, and setting aside corrections funding to create a supply of supportive housing units for offenders. Solutions lie largely at the community level. State agencies should reexamine policies, coordinate statewide strategies, help seek funding, and provide technical assistance so that local planning efforts can succeed. 5 figures, bibliography, appendix