Stable Housing and Job Opportunity are Challenges that Inmates Face

For someone leaving jail or prison, release is the start of a new set of problems. Two of the hardest come almost immediately: finding somewhere stable to live and finding someone willing to hire them. The two are tied together. It is hard to keep a job without a stable address, and hard to pay for housing without a job.

Housing: nowhere to go

The Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit research group, analyzed the Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 National Former Prisoner Survey and published its findings in 2018. It found that formerly incarcerated people were almost 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public.

The report's figures per 10,000 formerly incarcerated people:

• ✱203 were homeless, about 2%.
• ✱141 were homeless among those incarcerated once, compared with 279 among those incarcerated more than once.
• ✱570 were housing insecure, a broader measure that also counts people staying in rooming houses, hotels or motels.

These are older numbers, and they remain among the most detailed national figures available. They also come from a survey, so they are estimates rather than a full count.

Jobs: out of prison, out of work

The same survey data tells a similar story about work. The Prison Policy Initiative estimated an unemployment rate of 27.3% among formerly incarcerated people in 2008, compared with 5.8% for the general public. That is higher than the 24.9% peak the report cites for the Great Depression. The survey sampled people on parole, so the authors note it is not a perfect measure of everyone who has been incarcerated.

The gap was not the same for everyone. Among people ages 35 to 44, unemployment was highest for formerly incarcerated Black women, at 43.6%.

More recent federal research points the same way. The Bureau of Justice Statistics followed people released from federal prison in 2010 by linking their records to employment and wage files. A third (33%) of the people studied did not find employment at any point during the 16 quarters, or four years, after release.

Why the two problems feed each other

Housing and work depend on each other in practical ways:

• ✱A job application asks for an address and a phone number. People without stable housing may have neither.
• ✱A lease usually asks for proof of income. People without work may not have it, and some applications also ask about a criminal record.
• ✱Shelters and short stays can make a work schedule harder to keep. Moving often adds distance, cost and missed shifts.

The Prison Policy Initiative's housing report recommends that states create clear systems to help recently released people find housing, including vouchers and pre-release planning, and that landlords and housing authorities evaluate applicants individually rather than exclude people with records.

Where families can start

• ✱Start before release when possible. Ask the facility or a case manager what reentry planning is available and whether a release address has to be approved.
• ✱Search for housing and jobs. Inmate Reviews offers free listings under Search for Housing and Jobs for Inmates. Providers and employers submit those listings themselves, so call first, and ask about rules, costs, licensing and whether they accept people with a record.
• ✱Tell employers about the Federal Bonding Program. It provides free fidelity bonds of $5,000 to $25,000 for six months for at-risk job applicants, including people with a record, so an employer has less reason to hesitate. Your state workforce agency can explain how it works where you live.
• ✱Ask about supervision conditions. Anyone on probation or parole should confirm that a new address or job meets their conditions before committing.

Housing providers and employers who want to reach people coming home can list for free at Add Housing and Add a Job.