About the Project
The jail-to-homelessness pathway is frequently cited as a concerning systemic cause of homelessness. Individuals frequently exit from incarceration to homelessness if released with no fixed address. Unfortunately, this leads to both cycles of re-incarceration as well as cycles of chronic homelessness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this is of particular concern as the incarcerated population, including over-representation of Indigenous and racialized persons, is at particular risk of illness both during and post-incarceration. Urgent services are needed to create better pathways into housing for those leaving incarceration both now, during the pandemic, and going forward, through and beyond pandemic recovery.
In this context, the John Howard Society of London and District (JHS) proposed a housing support model for funding by the United Way Elgin Middlesex. This is aimed as supporting three overlapping vulnerable populations including formerly incarcerated individuals, individuals experiencing homelessness, and individuals living with mental illness. Through the provision of transitional accommodation in a local hotel, JHS is supporting individuals aged 18-years and over who are newly released from prison to avoid homelessness in London. This includes case management with individualized service plans focused on social determinants of health (e.g., income support, food security, social inclusion), on-site supports, system navigation, and ultimately rapid re-housing.
This work is particularly timely given how the pandemic is affecting local services. While those released from custody encounter barriers to successful integration at all times, the pandemic has particularly reduced access to health and social services as many close or limit in-person supports. Where the alternative to housing for those leaving incarceration to no-fixed-address is often emergency shelter, this support is also harder to obtain due to shelter de-intensification. Therefore, whereas this client population usually needs higher levels of support under normal circumstances, the pandemic has created further challenges to pathways into stability. The project is providing essential support to aid this vulnerable population impacted by the pandemic to ensure a safe and successful reintegration into the community.
The overarching research question that guided this mixed methods evaluation was: What are the experiences of individuals supported by JHS through temporary accommodations aimed at ending experiences of post-incarceration homelessness?
Research Team
Abe Oudshoorn, Principal Investigator.
Funding
United Way
Findings
- For all 27 of the program participants, being able to enter the JHS hotel program prevented the pathway from incarceration to homelessness.
- Where the national recidivism rate in Canada was 37% (Government of Canada, 2015), only 3 of 27 program participants (11%) returned to incarceration, of which 2 individuals breached conditions from a prior charge, and 1 person had a new charge.
- Improved access to mental health care/addictions counselling.
- Improved health and psychosocial outcomes, which also increased employability and community participation. 15 participants identified an improved sense of well-being or improved psychosocial outcomes related to program supports. 10 participants also identified that the program helped them reconnect with family post incarceration.
- Improved access to community services and resources.
- Improved ability to secure safe and suitable accommodation. 21 of the 27 program participants obtained housing throughout the JHS intervention.
Knowledge Translation
Read the project full report here.