Giving Compass' Take:

• The Second Chance Act provides federal funding for services aimed at keeping people off the streets and out of jail. The 2018 spending bill included an increase in spending for this program. 

• How can this mone be spent most effectively? What are the long-term solutions to homelessness and imprisonment in the U.S.?

• Find out how female inmates in Indianapolis are working to reduce homelessness and recidivism. 

Homelessness is intimately linked with the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Almost 50,000 people a year enter homeless shelters immediately after exiting incarceration. And people returning from jail or prison face barriers to finding stable housing and employment due to legal restrictions and discrimination against those with criminal records.

People experiencing homelessness can also get pulled into the criminal or juvenile justice systems for misdemeanor offenses related to attempts to survive on the streets. They may be prosecuted for things like shoplifting or for publicly engaging in basic life activities like standing or sleeping — activities that would never be an offense when done in one’s home. The compounding effects of institutional racism result in the over-representation of people of color in the criminal justice system, which in turn pushes more people of color into homelessness.

While there is much work to be done on both sides of the cycle between incarceration and homelessness, reentry issues (preventing recidivism for people exiting correctional institutions) have been the focus of a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders for many years. This work yielded the Second Chance Act (SCA) in 2008. SCA provides funding for services like case management and substance abuse treatment which are intended to prevent people from returning to jail or prison. The recent Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations bill included a $17 million increase in SCA grants.

Read the full article on the Second Chance Act by Mindy Mitchell at the National Alliance to End Homelessness.