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Homelessness and the Criminal Justice System Resources
USICH has compiled a list of resources with information and websites for state officials, corrections administrators, crisis intervention teams, and policymakers on this issue.
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A Note from USICH Deputy Director Anthony Love:As we continue to build momentum in our efforts to prevent and end homelessness, communities around the country are faced with the problem of how to deal with the increasingly challenging issue of the intersection of homelessness and criminalization in a successful and cost effective way. People living on the streets, in cars, or staying in emergency shelters are often ticketed or arrested for activities that may be necessary for survival on the streets. As a result, they end up with a long list of violations that can become a barrier to employment, accessing needed benefits, or securing an apartment, moving them no closer to exiting homelessness. According to the US Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 10 percent of those in prisons and jails are homeless in the months before their incarceration. For those individuals who have a mental illness, the number is higher. In fact, homelessness exacerbates poor physical and behavioral health and increases an individual's contact with the criminal justice system. Local communities have adopted a range of ordinances in response to citizen and business concerns about panhandling, loitering, and camping on public land. Criminalizing acts of survival is not a solution to homelessness and results in unnecessary public costs for police, courts, and jails. Development of alternative approaches should meet both the public's need for access to public streets, parks, and recreation areas and the ability of people experiencing homelessness to meet basic needs.
Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness identifies the need to find solutions to this problem. Objective 9 is to "Advance health and housing stability for people experiencing homelessness who have frequent contact with hospitals and criminal justice." Effective targeted outreach, discharge planning, and specialized courts are proven to help keep people out of jails and to connect people to housing, support, or for those who need it, supportive housing. - Read more
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 A Word from the Experts: Jocelyn Fontaine, the Urban Institute
Jocelyn Fontaine is a Research Associate at the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center, a research leader in the field of prisoner reentry initiatives and program effectiveness. She spoke with USICH about keys to success for reentering prisoners, the Urban Institute's current program partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), and the results thus far from their studies.
- Read the interview
- Read about CSH's Returning Home Initiative
- Go to the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center |
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Profile of Reentry Planning on the State Level: Case Study of Utah
USICH spoke with Lloyd Pendleton, the Homeless Task Force Director for the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development. Utah has been administering two successful reentry programs since 2005, involving both inreach case management and mentoring and Housing First programs around the state. Mr. Pendleton was able to share his successes and lessons learned, noting the necessity for leadership on many different levels to get these programs off the ground. He spoke about the importance of highlighting reentry initiatives in the State ICH and Ten Year Plans in order to implement effective reentry policies.
- Read the interview
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Model Program Profiles: St. Leonard's Ministries and Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston Jail Inreach Program
 Both St. Leonard's Ministries and Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston have years of experience working with the reentering population to meet their housing and healthcare  needs in their transition back into the community. The directors of these programs spoke about their specific programs and successes, and steps other providers can take to best serve this population. |
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Collaborating on Alternatives to Criminalization and Ending Chronic Homelessness: Downtown DC BID
 The Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) has been able to implement a unique partnership with the local business community, Pathways to Housing DC, and the Metropolitan Police Department to successfully decrease the number of chronically homeless individuals in the District while finding alternatives to criminalization. USICH spoke with representatives from all three partners to learn more about their program, BID's Homeless Outreach Services, and what is most critical to serve this population and end the cycle of homelessness and incarceration.
- Read the interview
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Signature Reentry Legislation and Funding Available: The Second Chance Act
The Second Chance Act of 2007 is the Department of Justice's legislation that serves the reentering population, administering competitive grants for states, local governments and non-profit organizations. Grants are distributed to provide employment assistance, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victims support, and other services that can help reduce reoffending and violations of probation and parole.
Funding has just become available through the Second Chance Act Adult Mentoring Competitive Grant Program and the Juvenile Mentoring Initiative for FY 2011. This funding is available to nonprofit organizations that provide mentors for prisoners and those in juvenile detention both pre- and post-release to help them better integrate into community life and access services. Mentors have been shown to be successful role models and partners in both the discharge planning process and in the months following release.
-Adult Mentoring applications due April, 21, 2011. Read the full grant announcement
- Juvenile Mentoring applications due May 2, 2011. Read the full grant announcement
- Learn more about the Second Chance Act
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| USICH Wants Your Feedback:
A Call for Promising Practices and Innovative Programs
Do you have an innovative program model or promising practice used within your community? If so, USICH wants to hear about it!
Key themes within Opening Doors include using data to understand what works and investing in proven solutions. Towards this end, USICH is building a searchable database of innovative program models and promising local practices for preventing and ending homelessness. The purpose of the database is to offer practitioners an easy way to learn about what is working in communities across the country and to facilitate more peer-to-peer sharing.
To be considered for inclusion...read more on our website
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National News
NPR Highlights the work of Common Ground in NYC and the 100,000 Homes Campaign
On March 7, NPR's All Things Considered talked with Executive Director of the nonprofit Common Ground in New York City to discuss the work of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, whose mission it is to house 100,000 chronically homeless individuals across the country. They discuss the history of permanent supportive housing in New York City, the innovative approach to service delivery and outreach, and the work of 100,000 Homes Campaign thus far. This story is part of the larger series Social Entrepreneurs: Taking on the World's Problems.
- Listen to the story
- Learn more about the 100,000 Homes Campaign
60 Minutes reports on the increase in homeless children in its segment, Homeless Children: The Hard Times Generation
At the beginning of March, 60 Minutes investigated the increasing problem of homelessness among children. This segment delves into the lives of homeless children and families in a wealthy county outside of Orlando, Florida - Seminole County - where 67 motels now house roughly 500 homeless children. This top story brings to light this problem, one that children have not experienced in these numbers since the Great Depression. The report interviews the children at length, as well as their families, neighbors and service providers, reminding us that this vulnerable population continues to need support.
- Watch the story and read the transcript of the segment
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USICH Webinar on Increasing Access to Mainstream Benefits Available
The USICH Webinar A Novel Approach to Increasing Access to Mainstream Benefits is now available for viewing with sound on USICH's Vimeo channel, and the slides for this webinar are available on USICH's website. This webinar highlighted the work of the Ohio Benefit Bank and the Benefit Bank of South Carolina, both of which have proven successful at enrolling thousands of people experiencing or most at-risk of homelessness in mainstream benefit programs easily and efficiently.
- View the webinar
- Download the slides
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Member Agency Updates
Department of Labor
VETS announces funds to hold community Stand Down events in FY 2011
The Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS) announces $600,000 available to fund community "Stand Down" events, part of the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. Stand Down events are held by local organizations that provide Veterans with a wide range of social services such as food, clothing, shelter, housing and employment assistance. In 2010, more than 160 organizations across the country partnered with local businesses, government agencies, and community and faith-based service providers to hold 81 Stand Down events for homeless Veterans and their families. Funding is available for FY 2011 to fund one-day or multi-day events on a first-come first-served basis until available funding is exhausted.
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USICH Mission
. . . to coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness in the nation while maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal Government in contributing to the end of homelessness.
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