Vicious cycle for prisoners who are homeless on release needs urgent action
– by Dr Mindy Sotiri & Dr Ruth McCausland
The NSW government must take steps now to pre-empt what could happen to people leaving custody without a place to live amid the coronavirus pandemic. While our attention has rightly been focused on options for decarceration, we also need to urgently focus on the reality of what will happen when people are released from prison.
How we can put a stop to the revolving door between homelessness and imprisonment
– by Sophie Russell & Dr Mindy Sotirir
There are thousands of people released from prison into homelessness in the community each year. Demand for homelessness services across the board in NSW is growing. However, despite this increase in the provision of services, the homelessness sector is not funded or able to meet demand.
Perpetual Punishment in Inner City Sydney
– by Dr Mindy Sotiri & Sophie Russell
The announcement to exclude vulnerable people from accessing public housing – due to conviction or charge of drug supply or drug manufacture – in February 2018 ignores the well-established research connecting homeless and imprisonment. Casting one group of the population as a threat to inner city residents allows them to be sacrificed to ease public tension, while offering no real community safety solution.
Download and read the paper here.
The Provision of Services Under the NDIS for People with Disabilities Who are in Contact with the Criminal Justice System
– by Simone Rowe & Jim Simpson with Eileen Baldry & Patrick McGee
People with cognitive impairments are highly represented in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. This over-representation is directly related to the lack of appropriate disability supports commonly available to this group in their communities. The results are deprived and abused lives for the people with cognitive impairments, either cycling in and out of trouble and prison or, for a significant number, indefinite detention with no likelihood of release. These problems are particularly marked for First Nations peoples.
Download and read the paper here.
Shown The Exit Revisited: CRC’s Everyday Experience in Assisting People Leaving Custody – published in ‘I Shall Be Released: Post-Release and Homelessness’ Parity Magazine, March, 2017.
– by Dr Mindy Sotiri and Alex Faraguna (Community Restorative Centre)
In an article entitled “Shown the Exit” in the October 2016 edition of Parity, we presented five essential elements that have been identified through research and CRC’s practice over its 65-year history that are crucial to the success of post-release support programs. This follow-up article aims to expand on three of these key themes and share insights gained by CRC’s experienced transitional workers, with a focus on issues surrounding homelessness.
Download and read the paper here.
Evaluation of ACT Extended Throughcare Pilot Program. Prepared for ACT Corrective Services (January 2017)
– by Andrew Griffiths, Fredrick Zmudzki, Shona Bates (Social Policy Research Centre)
This report presents the findings of the evaluation of the Extended Throughcare program provided by ACT Corrective Services. Extended Throughcare is a voluntary program that provides support to people who have been incarcerated who are returning to the community at the end of their custodial sentence. Overall, the findings are positive, demonstrated by both the continuing high uptake of the Program, clients being released to housing or other accommodation services, and the drop in recidivism.
Download and read the paper here.
Shown The Exit: A Snapshot of the Issues Facing People Leaving Custody in NSW in 2016 – published in ‘Responding to Homelessness in NSW’ Parity Magazine, November, 2016.
– by Dr Mindy Sotiri and Alex Faraguna (Community Restorative Centre)
In 2015/2016, 17,108 people were released from NSW prisons into the community. Sourcing suitable housing and accommodation options for people on release from custody is the single greatest challenge for community organisations working in the space of reintegration and transition. Although it is difficult to gauge the exact numbers of people on release who are exiting into homelessness, what is clear is that this population is significantly over-represented in prisons. Reception data indicates that as many as 60% of people in prison have come from primary or secondary homelessness.
Download and read the paper here.
Submission to the Proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguarding Framework (April 2015)
– by Simone Rowe, Sophie Russell, Dr Mindy Sotiri (Community Restorative Centre)
With the introduction of the NDIS, at least in its current manifestation, the sustainability of CRCs existing services to people with intellectual and mental disabilities remains unclear. Furthermore, given their complex presentations, there is significant concern that people with intellectual and mental disabilities who are enmeshed in the criminal justice system will not fare well under the NDIS; rather, it appears likely that their incarceration rates will continue to escalate.
Download and read the paper here.
Homelessness in Ex-Prisoner Populations: A CRC Submission for FACS (2016)
– by Dr Mindy Sotiri and Alex Faraguna (Community Restorative Centre)
Sourcing suitable housing and accommodation options for people on release from custody is the single greatest challenge for community organisations working in the space of reintegration and transition. Although it is difficult to gauge the exact numbers of people on release who are exiting into homelessness, what is clear is that this population is significantly over-represented in prisons. What is also clear is that not only does the experience of homelessness significantly increase the risk of imprisonment (and other forms of adverse criminal justice system contact), imprisonment itself increases the likelihood of homelessness.
Download and read the paper here.
An Exploration of Best Practice in Community Based Reintegration Programs for People Leaving Custody in the US and the UK.
– Dr Mindy Sotiri (Community Restorative Centre)
This project is an exploration of best practice in community-based reintegration services for people leaving prison; it has a particular focus on issues related to working with complex needs populations. Complex needs populations include people with cognitive impairment, mental illness, long histories of criminal justice system involvement, homelessness, and limited community connection and engagement. This research included an extensive literature review, hundreds of email and phone conversations with experts around the world, and 26 direct service visits to community based programs in Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Providence, New York, London and Glasgow.
Download and read the paper here.
You can read more on The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust website.
Supporting people with Cognitive Impairment and criminal justice system involvement: A briefing paper overviewing key challenges and service gaps.
– Alison Churchill, Dr Mindy Sotiri and Simone Rowe (Community Restorative Centre)
This paper highlights some of the major challenges for people with an intellectual disability, complex needs and a history of involvement with the criminal justice system transitioning to the NDIS.
The Community Restorative Centre’s (CRC) concerns can be summarised as follows:
- The separation of disability and non-disability related behaviours under the NDIS framework (and the unmet need for holistic support for complex-needs clients);
- The complicated implications of the ‘choice and control’ policy framework of NDIS in relation to this population group;
- The implications of the fee-for-service model in terms of ‘cherry-picking’ clients in order to ensure organisational financial sustainability (why clients with rapidly changing complex support needs won’t be supported);
- The need to appropriately consider the risks posed to the community if this group are not adequately supported (and the poor access to services in the community for this group);
- The importance of understanding the full effects of incarceration on individuals with intellectual disability and complex needs;
- The implications of excluding prisons in NDIS pilot sites (which means there is no possibility of implementing internationally recognised best practice through-care models of support)
Download and read the paper here.