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The article explores legal challenges associated with the provision of federal housing assistance to formerly incarcerated seniors in the U.S. Topics discussed include the compassionate release program which allows early prison release for ill or elderly incarcerated individuals, the housing options made available to seniors by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the barriers to the housing assistance access of seniors with criminal records.

The article discusses the efforts by the U.S. government to fight the coronavirus pandemic and protect homeless people against the disease. Other topics include the state of homelessness in the country, the correlation between homelessness, imprisonment and chronic health conditions, and the need to implement a housing-first strategy to fight homelessness in the country.

The article discusses the key role of supportive housing in communities to help freed prisoners transition their lives back to their neighborhoods. Also cited are the social services to be provided as part of supportive housing programs, the failure by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to implement the federal statutory law on supportive housing, and the plausible challenge under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for failure to implement supportive housing.

Since gender organizes key reentry services such as housing, formerly incarcerated people seeking resources must successfully inhabit a gender category. Drawing on seven months of ethnography and 79 interviews with service providers and formerly incarcerated transgender people, I show that these organizational practices of gender categorization are racialized and impact resource access. Most gender-segregated housing programs rely on biology-based definitions of gender. These gender rules create workable options for trans men to stay with women, but bar trans women from women's spaces. Once in gendered housing programs, clients need to navigate gender assessment in interactions. Trans men employed several strategies to establish gendered selves who were easily categorized as either male or female, which allowed them to access stable housing. Gender sanctioning posed a major problem for black trans women. Black trans women were highly scrutinized in women's programs, characterized as illegitimate based on biological definitions of gender, and harassed for any perceived deviation from gender norms. When harassment escalated into conflict, they were expelled from programs. Regulation of black trans women's womanhood led to systematic material deprivation. By understanding the connections between categorical exclusions and exclusion from resources we can better understand the reproduction of reentry hardship and inequality more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research provides insight into how reentering citizens reintegrate into society through prisoner reentry programs. Specifically, we examine the personal and economic benefits to reentering citizens and how these interventions impact their trust in government. Through a survey of participants in a South Carolina prisoner reentry program, we gained former inmates' perceptions of the programs' services on their social, economic, and political lives. We found that levels of trust in government were lower for all of the formerly incarcerated men. However, participants that were placed in governmental positions through the re-entry program recovered a substantial amount of trust in government compared to participants working in non-governmental positions or those who were unemployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenges that people recently released from custody face is securing housing. Many individuals rely on supported accommodation programs for housing in the immediate post-release period. However, the value of supported accommodation programs in producing positive criminal justice and health outcomes for people released from custody has not been widely examined. This article reviews the current literature on supported accommodation programs and the elements of these services that contribute to positive outcomes for individuals released from custody. We focused on programs that provided temporary, transitional group residences for adults recently released from a correctional setting. The systematic review identified only nine publications that met the inclusion criteria. Studies were frequently at high risk of bias and few consistent findings emerged about either effectiveness of accommodation programs or program characteristics associated with participant outcomes. Methodologically rigorous research is needed to determine the effectiveness of post-release supported accommodation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a nationwide effort to decrease the number of persons who are incarcerated in jails and prisons. However, many ex-offenders on probation or parole do not have access to affordable housing and larger proportions have histories of HIV risk as well as substance abuse problems. In California, sober living houses (SLHs) are becoming an increasingly popular housing option for these individuals. Based largely on the principles of alcoholics anonymous, SLHs require abstinence from alcohol and drugs and provide peer support for recovery. The current study examined the types of problems experienced among 330 ex-offenders with lifetime risk for HIV during the six months prior to entering SLHs. Nearly three fourths (74%) of all ex-offenders entering the houses had at least one HIV risk. The importance of housing was evident in the finding that housing status and participants’ perceptions of their housing situation were associated with a variety of problem areas, including substance use, HIV risk, psychiatric severity, and legal problems. SLHs represent an important housing option for ex-offenders, but many residents may need additional services to address various problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article argues that the ADA and its integration mandate, informed by international standards, should extend to incarcerated individuals with mental disabilities who reenter society, as they are at highly elevated risk for unnecessary segregation in institutions such as homeless shelters or hospitals or through reincarceration. An understanding of the precise services needed to prevent these strongly related but distinct variants of institutionalization requires a robust and continuing research agenda. In discussing the breadth of the ADA, we explore its history, interpretations of its application in a variety of contexts with respect to vulnerable populations and integration, and enforcement. We also turn to international approaches to integration mandates as they apply to reentry. By interpreting the domestic and international principles that create the context for integration we hope to have provided a resource for future application of the ADA integration in the context of prisoner reentry. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social conditions of prisoners as they reenter society in Oakland, California within the context of U.S. neoliberalism, including in regard African American ex-convicts' experiences in Oakland. An overview of the minimal social services offered to ex-convicts in Oakland, including a community health clinic and the inability for ex-prisoners to attain subsidized housing, is provided.

This study examined the New Perspectives Aftercare Program (NPAP) for serious juvenile and young adult offenders in The Netherlands. Participants (n = 127) were randomly assigned to NPAP (n = 66) or existing aftercare services ("treatment as usual" [TAU], n = 61). The aim was to determine whether NPAP was effective in decreasing cognitive distortions and criminal thinking patterns and increasing prosocial skills of the juveniles compared with TAU. No direct intervention effects were found on any of the outcome measures. Moderator analyses, however, showed several interaction effects of ethnicity and coping skills for both NPAP and TAU youths. Furthermore, NPAP dropouts displayed significantly more indirect aggression at posttest compared with youths dropping out from TAU. Possible explanations for the mostly null effects are discussed, including implications for further research, policy, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to critically reflect upon some of the practical difficulties which surround the implementation of an outcome-focused payment initiative, colloquially referred to as Payment by Results (PbR), in a drug and alcohol service situated in the North of England. Drawing upon the findings of a longitudinal study in a residential rehabilitation service, the discussion illustrates some of the tensions and dilemmas which surround the introduction of increasingly business-orientated decisions within a person-centered environment that is designed to work alongside some of society’s most troubled and troublesome individuals. To conclude, the article suggests that financially-driven processes (such as PbR) commodify the rehabilitative ideal, making service users and practitioners alike increasingly accountable to a counterintuitive fiscal endeavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in criminal justice reform. Movements such as the #cut50 campaign, a bipartisan effort to reduce the prison population by 50 % in 10 years, demonstrates how much things have changed from the 'tough on crime' rhetoric which dominated much of the 1980's. Philanthropy has historically and will continue to play a large role in the reform movement. As this paper suggests, however, if the current momentum is to continue, there must be a push towards a 'collective impact,' collaborative approach in the field of prisoner reentry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the assessment of social services for prisoner re-entry into U.S. society through what is referred to as Reentry Well-Being Assessment Tool (RWAT). An overview of the role that U.S. social services plays in ex-prisoner well-being treatment, including decision making on treatment, is provided.

This article examines the release and aftercare of female prisoners in England during the late nineteenth century. Primarily it seeks to illuminate the use of residential provision for women who had been released from both convict and local prisons, contrasting the two systems and suggesting how such institutions may have affected the women's subsequent offending. The research presented here draws on two sets of data, the material on local prisons uses a case study of female prisoners at Stafford prison (Turner, 2009, 2011) and the convict prison data draw on the licensing and release of female convicts collated for a recent ESRC funding project on the costs of imprisonment (Johnston & Godfrey, 2013a). This article outlines and reflects upon aftercare and residential provision for women leaving prison, during a period when a woman released from prison was regarded as 'the most hopeless creature in the world' (Reverend William Morrison, cited in Gladstone Committee Report, 1895). Aftercare and support were variable for those leaving local prisons, but for convict women released on conditional licence to a refuge, this could offer them the opportunity to build a new life after release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although psychotherapy literature identifies the client–therapist relationship as a key factor contributing to client outcomes, few studies have examined whether relationship quality among corrections populations and supervising officers influences outcomes. This is surprising given that many criminal justice intervention models include quality of the client–practitioner relationship. Parolees enrolled in a six-site randomized clinical trial, where they were assigned to a parole officer–therapist–client collaborative intervention designed to improve relationship quality (n = 253) or supervision as usual (n = 227), were asked to rate relationship quality with their supervising officer. Results showed parolees assigned to the intervention endorsed significantly higher relationship ratings and demonstrated a lower violation rate than those assigned to the control group. Ratings of the parolee–parole officer relationship mediated the relationship between study condition and outcomes; better perceived relationship quality was associated with fewer drug use days and violations during the follow-up period, regardless of the study condition. Findings are discussed as they pertain to supervision relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks into the prospects of social work in the probation system. The probation system provides convicts with the opportunities of social integration in the conditions of freedom. The system is currently under intense development, projects appear, and the need for different professionals emerges. The goal of social work is to empower individuals to help themselves and their immediate environment by activating internal and external resources and promoting empowering collaboration. The article presents the discussion of the conceptions of the probation system in the convict resocialisation process. On the basis of empiric research, the opportunities of social work as a supporting profession and its place in the probation system in the pursuit of convict resocialisation is designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines recidivism among a cohort of formerly incarcerated people released from the Sheridan Correctional Center (SCC), a dedicated drug treatment facility based on a Therapeutic Community (TC) model of prison-based drug treatment. After an average of 6.9 years post-release, the SCC releasees had a 15% lower likelihood of recidivism than the comparison group, and a 44% reduction in the likelihood of recidivism when both prison-based drug treatment and aftercare programming were accessed. The current analyses showed that the beneficial effects of prison-based drug treatment were bolstered by aftercare services and continued long after release from prison. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study estimates the economic costs of Recovery Management Checkups for Women Offenders (RMC-WO), highlighting the unique mix of services across two phases of the intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to quarterly outcome monitoring (OM) only (n = 242) or OM plus Recovery Management Checkups (OM-plus-RMC) (n = 238). The total annual economic cost of OM only was $76,010, which translates to $81 quarterly per person. OM-plus-RMC generates a total annual economic cost of $126,717, or $137 quarterly per person. The clinical, economic, and policy implications of incorporating RMC-WO into existing corrections and/or community-based treatment settings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The growth in Muslim chaplaincy provision in UK prisons disguises a paucity of resources, particularly in the area of offender rehabilitation. Islam’s distinctive approach to antisocial behaviour, repentance and forgiveness needs to be better known among social administrators, particularly in the probation service. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyses the nature of trust involved in mentoring ex-prisoners. Literature outlines understandings of well-placed trust as dependent upon the motivations of the trust parties, placed in those who are perceived to be trustworthy, or placed in those who have the potential to be trust-responsive. This article describes how faith-based volunteer mentors’ motivations to serve God rather than save man facilitated their bestowal of unearned trust on their ex-prisoner protégés and how this gift of trust was capable of potentiating a trustworthy response. It also describes how this proactive trust was well-placed in some who failed to be trustworthy because it encouraged open and honest communication of this failure. As a result, it argues in some circumstances it could be intelligent to place trust proactively without evidence of trustworthiness, and that trust of this kind could be especially important to people released from prison. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper results from a quantitative study, which aims to define the profile of the networks of formal and informal support in relation to social reintegration program users of the Postpenitentiary System Office and The Attention of the Released Bureau of the State of Jalisco, Mexico. The sample consists of 260 users of this system, who agreed to participate in the evaluation and make a follow up interview at six months. The analysis give results where a high user satisfaction regarding the program and the formal support system of social reintegration, in turn, leaving a program does not correlate with the formal support, being noted that the informal support show a positive correlation with this according to the figures and their social adaptation. Implications of the results to address the social reintegration of prisoners are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of adult transition centers (ATCs) in Illinois on postimprisonment earnings and employment. As a work-release program, ATCs are designed to help state prisoners prepare for release through job training and employment opportunities. Using releases from minimum-security prisons as the comparison group, this study finds that ATC assignment modestly improves employment while successful ATC release positively affects earnings and employment. The possible selection bias and their implications for causal inference are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sex offender registration and community notification schemes form an increasingly important part of public policy relevant to the management of known sex offenders in the community. Critics of these policies not only point to the lack of empirical evidence that is currently available to support their impact on reoffending, but also the disproportionate and potentially iatrogenic effects that they have on offenders. However, there have been few attempts to understand these issues from the perspective of those practitioners who work on a daily basis with sex offenders in the community. These professionals are uniquely placed to contribute to an understanding of effective risk management and, as such, this article presents an analysis of the perspectives of a group of experienced practitioners and how this practice-based wisdom might inform the development of sex offender public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender violence in Spain is a subject that raises great social concern. Also, the implementation of psychological intervention programs for male batterers has drawn public attention. This study assessed the personality of 38 paroled men convicted for intimate partner violence. Structured psychological interviews and standard personality tests were used. Pre and post treatment cognitive distortions about women were also assessed. All participants received a specific cognitive-behavioral treatment program. Results indicated that 65% of participants reduced their cognitive distortions about women. Data are concurrent with other studies and allow us to be moderately optimistic about effectiveness of this kind of special psychological treatment programs for male batterers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How might work levels among low-income men be raised, as they were for welfare mothers in the 1990s? This study expands the relevant literature on both social policy and implementation. Low-skilled men owing child support and ex-offenders returning from prison are already supposed to work but often fail to do so. The reasons include both the recent fall in unskilled wages and the confusion of men's lives. Existing work programs in child support and criminal justice appear promising, although evaluations are limited. A survey covering most states shows that half or more already have some men's work programs, usually on a small scale. Field research in six states suggests the political and administrative factors that shape wider implementation of these programs. Work programs should preferably be mandatory, stress work over training, and be combined with improved wage subsidies. The federal government should provide more funding and evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history and development of the Dismas House Records in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the article, the Dismas House was the first halfway house for ex-prisoners in the U.S. and was developed by Catholic priest Dismas Clark in the mid-20th century. The article states that the Dismas House Records contain biographical material on Clark's early life and focuses upon the Dismas House between 1959 to 1978. The article also discusses the role of Russian Jewish immigrant Morris Shenker in the development of Dismas House. The article examines the notoriety Clark and Dismas House gained following the release of the motion picture "The Hoodlum Priest" in 1961.

The article presents a discussion on the history of developments within German philanthropy. Particular attention is paid to the impact of modernization on philanthropic movements during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Further comments are made concerning the religious organization of philanthropy during the time period under discussion, especially as connected with basic services for juvenile delinquents and other convicted criminals. The author also examines on the organization of charities through secular and clergy groups.

Every year, millions of people exit American jails and prisons and attempt to reintegrate into society. Ex-offenders face many obstacles during the transition. Scholars contend that securing employment is central to a successful transition. A job that allows an ex-offender to earn an income above the poverty line is especially significant, recent studies have shown. Consequently, many prisoner reentry initiatives are focused on expanding employment opportunities for ex-offenders. However, the almost exclusive emphasis on employment as the measurement of economic well-being is short-sighted because it ignores the importance of financial education and asset ownership. Prisoner reentry programs should include an emphasis on financial education in addition to an emphasis on employment as a means of reducing recidivism rates and improving the economic well-being of the ex-offenders and receiving communities. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the proximity of service providers to recently released parolees in California over a 2-year period (2005-2006). The addresses of parolee residences and service providers are geocoded, and the number of various types of service providers within 2 miles (3.2 km) of a parolee are measured. “Potential demand” is measured as the number of parolees within 2 miles of a provider. Although racial and ethnic minority parolees have more service providers nearby, these providers appear to be particularly impacted based on potential demand. It is also found that the parolees arguably most in need of social services—those who have spent more time in correctional institutions, have been convicted of more serious or violent crimes in their careers, or are sex offenders—live near fewer social services, or the providers near them appear impacted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prisoner reentry industry (PRI) has become a major part of the Social Control Industrial Complex. As with the Prison Industrial Complex, the PRI is not just a collection of institutions, organizations, and interest groups (both public and private); it is also a state of mind. Developing and facilitating programs and services for the formerly incarcerated have become a huge 'cash-cow,' producing profits for the PRI at the expense of the taxpayer, while doing little to link the formerly incarcerated person to the social capital and human skills necessary to become a 'citizen.' Data that include the voices of the formerly incarcerated, members of their families, and criminal justice practitioners suggest that a person's level of success during their 'personal reentry experience' varies in large part, by the individual parole officer they are assigned to and the number and types of programs they are required to participate in. Furthermore, their quality of life after release and their level of success is determined in large part by the program administrators managing those 'for-profit companies' and 'non-profit/for-profit agencies,' that supervise parolee programs. The argument here is that there must be a better system for monitoring the activities of those organizations that are in the business of facilitating prisoner reentry-related services. A process of accountability that will ensure that organizations part of the PRI are in fact providing services in the manner that was stated and agreed upon during their request for funding. The most important tool for ending this cycle lies in creating employment opportunities for the formerly incarcerated and empowering them to access those resources afforded all citizens. Consequently, if those agencies and organizations in the business of facilitating prisoner reentry were successful at making available the services they argue they do provide, members of these organizations would work themselves out of a job; that would be a valid indicator of organizational success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In common with other professions social workers have the power to articulate certain ''truths'' about the people who use their services (Hare Mustin, 1994). These knowledge statements about people, often situated in case files may become the only background information of the lived experience for people with disability (Gillman, Swain, & Heyman, 1997). Social workers need to develop interviewing, assessment and recording practices that give precedent to the worldview of service users, if they are to truly understand and respond effectively to people's lives (Bigby, 2007). One such way of doing this is by adopting a life story approach to working with vulnerable people, which can provide a holistic stance to a person's social reality (Ortiz, 1985). This article outlines the use of this approach in research with Queensland ex-prisoners who were labelled as having an intellectual disability. By explaining the process used by the first author (hereafter known as the researcher), the methodological findings of this study illustrate how life story work can contribute to social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on prison reforms and penitentiary policies in Argentina and Spain from 1890-1918. It examines the development of foundations dedicated to the assistance of former prisoners and ex-convicts released during this time period. The author studies the process of social rehabilitation that these institutions offered, along with an analysis of speeches delivered by prominent politicians and other important leaders in both Spain and Argentina related to these ex-convict institutions.

We broach the sociological understanding of the throughcare - as a social programme granted the prisoners (and possibly to their families) during their detention, to prepare them for the life they are going to have after their release, as an effort to train the prisoners so that they would be able to face the reality. Throughcare actually represents the training and the support of the institutionalized young people/who have been integrated in a care programme or a maternal support/who have been in their parent's care and who pass to an independent life. Where the individuals are placed inside the society and where they are subject to the statutory surveillance, the social services in the penalty justice - the probation officers - rhythmically provide reports regarding the individuals' progress. Therefore, through the activity of advice and assistance it is going to watch: the individual's reintegration in the society, the consolidation of his social security, the prevention of committing new offences, the correction of their crime behaviour through the awareness of the gravity of the act they had committed and of its consequence, the support granted to the condemned individual to the satisfaction of his need of education, professional training, place of employment, home. In this context, the article briefly presents aspects of medical training, putting forward pro domo arguments for psycho-sociopedagogical advisors' training in order to offer information, with an up-to-date scientific character, and in order to develop healthy lifestyle skills for prisoners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intensive case management treatment program for mentally ill offenders (MIOs) is outlined, and subsequent recidivism of participants is evaluated. Features of the program and its development are discussed. Sixty-four (64) participants released from state prison between 1998 and 2003 were matched with a group of MIOs released earlier on eight established predictors of recidivism and followed for a period of two years. Significant results indicate felony recidivism for program participants was just over half the rate of matched controls (23% vs 42%.) More impressive results were found (15% vs 38%) when only data for participants enrolled after the first year were analyzed. Limitations and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant legal barriers as they seek to reenter society. The legal barriers include preclusion from public housing and public assistance, licensing prohibitions and employment prohibitions. This article examines the data from major reentry initiatives to determine whether the legal needs of formerly incarcerated individuals are being met. The data suggest that reentry programs do not adequately address the legal needs of their clients. This article then examines the potential for partnership between reentry programs and existing legal service providers in an effort to close the legal services gap in reentry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reentry of prisoners as the way to fight crime through public safety and cost effectiveness in the U.S. Reentry serves as the process including activities and programs conducted for preparation of ex-convicts to return to the community and live as law abiding citizens. It offers an overview of inmates incarcerated in prisons. It notes on issues encountered by released inmates including employment and health services. It mentions the recidivism rate of sex offenders.

The September 2003 issue of "Australian Institute of Criminology" is presented. It examines various issues linked to the provision of post-release services to prisoners that draw international literature and a round-table discussion. It discusses the Australian correctional authorities that safeguard the community by incapacitating offenders and keeping them from potential victims. It then mentions the strategy to reduce the risk of recidivism including the provision of treatment. services and support to prisoners.

Focuses on the post-release assistance needed by people released from prison as a result of miscarriage of justice cases. Establishment of normal entitlements of citizenship; Treatment of serious psychological or psychiatric problems; Allocation of resources to alleviate their difficulties.

Correctional inmates and ex-offenders are disproportionately burdened by medical and mental health problems. This article reviews the state of programs and research in five health-related issues important to these inmates' successful transitions to the community: discharge planning, community linkages, and continuity of care; adherence to treatment regimens; availability of housing; quick access to benefit programs; and the particular needs of dually and triply diagnosed individuals. In general, such services are currently inadequate, although there are exemplary programs and promising strategies in some of these realms. Additional research is needed to evaluate current programs and encourage their replication and enhancement. The disproportionate share of the nation's total burden of health problems found among inmates and the potential public health and fiscal benefits of an improved response should make this research a high priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]