By Rudy Perez, Photo: Aaron/LA Photography/Shutterstock, Housing Matters, April 12, 2023
Every year, nearly 10 million people are released from prisons and jails in the United States. Formerly incarcerated people face significant barriers to reentry, such as challenges securing stable employment, housing, public benefits and access to education and the denial of voting rights. Because of the revolving door of homelessness and incarceration, many people in jail or prisons either experienced homelessness before incarceration or are at risk of experiencing it postrelease.
Research shows incarcerated people view having a stable place to live as critical to successful reentry. Yet, the quality of reentry programs and reentry support services across the US can vary significantly based on where a person is incarcerated and the community they are being released into.
Evidence shows that certain programs, called prison or jail in-reach programs, set people up for successful reintegration and may save receiving communities costs. Jail and prison in-reach programs link people who’ll soon be released from jail or prison with community service providers who provide them with personalized care tailored to each person’s needs. They build relationships with incarcerated people before release to establish sustained linkages to services upon their release.
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