Policy Statement 19, Recommendation G
Provide individuals who are entering the private rental market-and who demonstrate that they are without adequate resources to pay rent-with small stipends and/or housing assistance for the period immediately after release.
The majority of inmates and transition planners will likely think of independent private market housing as the first and most obvious housing option. But to obtain private rental housing, an individual must have the ability to pay rent regularly, as well as the security deposit and any required additional months of rent at the time of lease signing. Therefore, individuals seeking to obtain independent rental housing on the private market must have some form of income- which, in most cases, presupposes employment-sufficient to cover these costs. There are two main sources of financial assistance available for people seeking private housing after their release from prison or jail: public assistance and stipends.
In some cases, public assistance may help individuals pay for housing. Individuals returning to the community from incarceration are likely to be low-income and/or below the poverty line, and may therefore be eligible for public assistance. In many localities, such as New York City or San Francisco, public assistance or welfare includes a shelter allowance-additional financial assistance specifically used to offset the cost of housing. Some localities, however, have regulations that bar people with felony convictions or those leaving prison or jail from receiving public assistance as well as other entitlements and benefits. (See Policy Statement 24, Identification and Benefits, for more on restrictions to entitlements available to re-entering individuals.) Further, even in jurisdictions where recently released individuals are entitled to receive public assistance, if funding for that public assistance comes from the federal TANF program, additional housing allowances or stipends can be counted as client income, and can‘žeither make an individual ineligible for public assistance‘žor reduce the‘žindividual's monthly public assistance amount. Transition planners should therefore become knowledgeable about the regulations governing public assistance and other benefit program eligibility in their local area (and the areas to which the individuals will return), and they should educate people in prison or jail about their options for obtaining this kind of income support.
Providing individuals released from prison or jail with small stipends to assist in making the first few months' worth of rental payments may give these individuals a window of opportunity in which to gain employment and to become self-sufficient in housing. Private rental housing tends to be very expensive, especially in the urban areas to which most people return from incarceration.
Example: Forensic Services, Office of Behavioral Health, Allegheny County Department of Human Services (PA)
The Office of Behavioral Health provides stipends to pay for housing for individuals for the first three months after their release from prison, even if they will live with family.
Example: Being Empowered and Safe Together, Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. and the Department of Public Safety (HI)
Being Empowered and Safe Together (BEST) provides transition assistance services to parolees on the island of Maui. Program participants work with a time housing coordinator and receive a $200 stipend to subsidize their first month's rent payment. In addition to cash assistance, BEST offers substance abuse treatment, family reunification services, and cognitive skills training. The BEST program is funded by a SVORI grant.
In the absence of a stipend program, corrections staff or housing specialists helping inmates find private market rental housing may have to focus on teaching the prisoner how to search for housing and familiarizing him or her with the application process, even if he or she cannot formally apply-much less inspect an apartment-until his or her release. Given the difficulties of conducting this search and adapting to life in the community (possibly without support services), the private rental housing market, with all of the responsibilities and stressors it imposes, is unlikely to be a first stop for most individuals released from incarceration. Instead, most of these individuals will either move into a temporary housing situation, in a transitional facility or with family members or friends, or they may enter a homeless shelter with the hopes of finding an apartment after a short period. As studies have shown, the first month after release from prison is a vulnerable and critical period during which the risk of becoming homeless and/or returning to criminal justice involvement is high. Entering an unstable housing situation during this first month can destabilize an individual's re-entry process and ability to remain crime-free altogether.