The connection between incarceration and homelessness represents one of the most direct pathways into housing instability in the United States. Each year, approximately 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons, and millions more exit local jails. Many face nearly insurmountable barriers to securing stable housing, creating a pipeline from incarceration to homelessness that disproportionately affects low-income communities and people of color.
The Scale of the Problem
Research consistently shows strong connections between incarceration and homelessness:
- Formerly incarcerated individuals are nearly 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public
- Between 25% and 50% of people experiencing homelessness report prior incarceration
- Among those released from prison, approximately 15-20% report being homeless in the months following release
- For those with multiple incarcerations, the rate of homelessness can exceed 30-40%
A Bidirectional Relationship
The relationship between incarceration and homelessness works in both directions: incarceration increases the risk of homelessness, and homelessness increases the risk of incarceration. This creates a harmful cycle that can be difficult to escape without targeted interventions.
Direct Barriers to Housing
Involvement with the criminal justice system creates several direct barriers to housing access:
Explicit Housing Restrictions
- Public housing bans: Federal policies allow or require public housing authorities to deny applicants with certain criminal histories
- Private landlord screening: Most private landlords conduct criminal background checks and reject applicants with records
- Specific offense restrictions: People with drug-related offenses or sex offenses face particularly severe housing restrictions
- Extended lookback periods: Many housing providers consider criminal history from the past 7-10 years or even longer
Documentation Challenges
- Loss of identification documents during incarceration
- Difficulty obtaining new identification without a stable address
- Challenges accessing birth certificates, Social Security cards, and other documents needed for housing applications
Financial Barriers
- Criminal justice debt: Fines, fees, and restitution that accumulate during incarceration
- Damaged credit: Unpaid bills and defaulted loans during incarceration
- Lack of rental history: Gaps in housing history due to incarceration
- Inability to afford security deposits and application fees: Limited savings upon release
Indirect Barriers: The Collateral Consequences
Beyond direct housing restrictions, incarceration creates numerous indirect barriers to housing stability:
Employment Barriers
- Widespread employer discrimination against people with criminal records
- Legal restrictions on certain occupations for people with convictions
- Skills gaps and employment history gaps due to time incarcerated
- Limited access to professional licenses and certifications
These employment barriers directly impact housing access by limiting income and economic stability.
Disrupted Social Networks
- Strained or severed family relationships during incarceration
- Loss of community connections and support systems
- Reduced access to informal housing options (staying with family/friends)
- Limited social capital to assist with housing search
Supervision Requirements
- Parole or probation housing approval requirements that limit housing options
- Geographic restrictions that prevent relocation to areas with better housing opportunities
- Reporting requirements that can interfere with work schedules and income stability
The Approval Paradox
Many people on parole face a frustrating catch-22: they cannot be released without an approved housing plan, but they struggle to secure housing due to their criminal record. This can lead to extended incarceration simply due to lack of housing options, or to approval of unstable or inappropriate housing that quickly falls through after release.
The Release Process: Setting People Up for Failure
The process of release from incarceration often creates immediate housing crises:
Inadequate Discharge Planning
- Limited pre-release housing assistance in many facilities
- Insufficient coordination between corrections and housing systems
- Release without confirmed housing arrangements
- Short-term housing plans that quickly fall through
Resource Gaps
- Release with minimal financial resources (in some states, as little as $50-$200)
- Immediate needs (food, clothing, transportation) that deplete limited funds
- Delays in benefit enrollment or restoration after release
- Limited availability of reentry-specific housing programs
Timing and Coordination Issues
- Release at times when services are unavailable (evenings, weekends, holidays)
- Transportation challenges to reach housing or services
- Delays in obtaining necessary identification and documentation
- Lack of warm handoffs to community-based services
Disproportionate Impacts
The incarceration-to-homelessness pathway disproportionately affects certain populations:
Racial Disparities
- Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of white Americans
- This disparity extends to the incarceration-to-homelessness pipeline
- Housing discrimination compounds the effects of criminal justice discrimination
People with Mental Health Conditions
- Approximately 37% of people in prison and 44% in jail have been diagnosed with a mental health condition
- Those with mental illness face additional challenges in reentry and housing access
- Disruptions in treatment during incarceration and release can exacerbate symptoms
People with Substance Use Disorders
- High rates of substance use disorders among incarcerated populations
- Limited access to treatment during incarceration and after release
- Increased risk of overdose following release due to reduced tolerance
- Additional housing restrictions for those with drug-related convictions
The Cycle: Homelessness to Incarceration
Once homelessness occurs, the risk of re-incarceration increases significantly:
Criminalization of Homelessness
- Laws that prohibit sleeping, sitting, or storing belongings in public spaces
- Enforcement of quality-of-life offenses that disproportionately affect homeless individuals
- Trespassing charges for seeking shelter in abandoned buildings or private property
Survival Crimes
- Theft or other property crimes to meet basic needs
- Prostitution as a means of generating income or securing shelter
- Drug sales or other underground economy participation
Visibility and Policing
- Increased police contact due to visibility when living in public spaces
- Higher likelihood of being stopped, questioned, and arrested
- Difficulty complying with court appearances and supervision requirements while homeless
This cycle creates a revolving door between homelessness and incarceration that becomes increasingly difficult to exit.
Promising Approaches
Several interventions show promise for breaking the incarceration-to-homelessness pathway:
Pre-Release Interventions
- Comprehensive discharge planning: Beginning housing planning well before release
- Benefit enrollment assistance: Ensuring access to income supports upon release
- ID and documentation assistance: Helping secure necessary documents before release
- Housing application assistance: Applying for housing while still incarcerated
Housing-Specific Programs
- Reentry housing programs: Transitional or permanent housing specifically for formerly incarcerated individuals
- Housing First approaches: Providing immediate housing without preconditions
- Rapid re-housing: Quick placement into housing with temporary financial assistance
- Master leasing programs: Organizations leasing units and subletting to those with barriers
Policy Reforms
- Ban the box for housing: Delaying criminal background checks until after initial housing application review
- Individualized assessment: Considering factors beyond mere presence of a criminal record
- Shorter lookback periods: Limiting how far back housing providers can consider criminal history
- Expungement and record sealing: Creating pathways to clear eligible criminal records
Success Story: Returning Home Ohio
The Returning Home Ohio program provides supportive housing for formerly incarcerated individuals with disabilities. An evaluation found that participants were 60% less likely to be re-incarcerated compared to a similar group that did not receive the intervention. The program demonstrates that targeted housing support can significantly reduce recidivism and improve stability.
Comprehensive Approaches
The most effective interventions address multiple barriers simultaneously:
Integrated Services
- Combining housing with employment assistance
- Incorporating mental health and substance use treatment
- Providing legal services to address criminal justice debt and record clearing
- Offering financial capability services to rebuild credit and savings
System Coordination
- Formal partnerships between corrections, housing, and service providers
- Data sharing to identify and support high-risk individuals
- Cross-training of staff across systems
- Coordinated funding streams to support comprehensive interventions
Peer Support
- Employing formerly incarcerated individuals as peer navigators
- Creating communities of support among those with shared experiences
- Leveraging lived expertise to improve program design and implementation
The Broader Context: Mass Incarceration
Addressing the incarceration-to-homelessness pathway ultimately requires confronting mass incarceration itself:
- The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation
- Approximately 2 million people are currently incarcerated in prisons and jails
- Over 70 million Americans have some type of criminal record
- The scale of the system creates a correspondingly large population vulnerable to post-release homelessness
Reforms that reduce incarceration—such as alternatives to incarceration, shorter sentences, and decriminalization of certain offenses—would significantly reduce the number of people facing post-release housing barriers.
Conclusion
The pathway from incarceration to homelessness represents a significant failure of public systems. Rather than supporting successful reintegration, our current policies and practices often create nearly insurmountable barriers to housing stability for people with criminal records. This not only harms individuals and families but also undermines public safety goals by increasing recidivism and perpetuating cycles of instability.
Breaking this pathway requires both immediate interventions to support those currently navigating reentry and longer-term policy reforms to reduce barriers and prevent homelessness among those with criminal justice involvement. By addressing both the direct housing restrictions and the broader collateral consequences of incarceration, we can significantly reduce this pathway into homelessness and support more successful community reintegration.
Key Takeaway
The incarceration-to-homelessness pathway is largely created by policy choices that restrict housing access for people with criminal records. By changing these policies and providing targeted support during the reentry period, we can significantly reduce homelessness among formerly incarcerated individuals and break the cycle between incarceration and housing instability.
References & Further Reading
- Couloute, Lucius. "Nowhere to Go: Homelessness Among Formerly Incarcerated People." Prison Policy Initiative, August 2018. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/housing.html
- Metraux, Stephen and Culhane, Dennis P. "Homeless Shelter Use and Reincarceration Following Prison Release." Criminology & Public Policy, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2004.tb00031.x
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records." HUD, April 2016. https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/HUD_OGCGUIDAPPFHASTANDCR.PDF
- The Sentencing Project. "Americans with Criminal Records." The Sentencing Project, 2023. https://www.sentencingproject.org/
- National Reentry Resource Center. "Housing and Reentry." Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2023. https://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/
- Fontaine, Jocelyn. "The Role of Supportive Housing in Successful Reentry Outcomes for Disabled Prisoners." Urban Institute, 2013. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/role-supportive-housing-successful-reentry-outcomes-disabled-prisoners
- Western, Bruce. "Homeward: Life in the Year After Prison." Russell Sage Foundation, 2018. https://www.russellsage.org/publications/homeward
- National Alliance to End Homelessness. "Incarceration and Homelessness." NAEH, 2023. https://endhomelessness.org/resource/incarceration/
- Bureau of Justice Statistics. "Reentry Trends in the United States." U.S. Department of Justice, 2023. https://bjs.ojp.gov/reentry