How Housing Improves Public Safety
At first glance, the connection between improving public safety and ensuring a person leaving jail or prison has fair access to housing may not seem obvious. But a safer society for all of us is exactly what the Obama Administration is creating when it sends strong messages to public and private landlords that denying housing solely on the basis of a person having been incarcerated is discriminatory under the federal Fair Housing Act. What perhaps is even less self-evident is why the housing-public safety nexus is gaining such bipartisan traction; yet the answer here also springs from the recognition there are safer, smarter ways of addressing a person's reentry into the community.
The reality is this: The moment a person fresh from prison or jail steps off the bus in any town, a daunting challenge confronts them - where to find a place to sleep. Many face this trauma alone as family members may have died, moved away, or withdrawn the welcome mat. They have no money or prospects for a job. Then there are the public-perception obstacles they face, namely Not in My Backyard "NIMBY-ism" and a wide-spread unwillingness to rent to them.
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The reality is this: The moment a person fresh from prison or jail steps off the bus in any town, a daunting challenge confronts them - where to find a place to sleep. Many face this trauma alone as family members may have died, moved away, or withdrawn the welcome mat. They have no money or prospects for a job. Then there are the public-perception obstacles they face, namely Not in My Backyard "NIMBY-ism" and a wide-spread unwillingness to rent to them.
More...