The criminal justice system and homelessness

Joined-up strategies need to be put into practice if current legislation is going to help homelessness amongst ex-offenders. This page shows how Nacro, the crime reduction charity, is working with other agencies to come up with practical solutions to make sure housing resources are more available for this group.

By John Lowery, Housing Directorate, NACRO

Prison links

Nacro's Prison Link Unit has introduced a number of practical initiatives enabling key staff from both prisons and local authorities to translate good intentions into good practice.

Application forms

At HMP Hewell Grange, Nacro facilitated links with the local housing authority (LHA) and developed a housing advice centre run by prisoners. The LHA visited the prison and discussed their allocations policy with the prisoners. Since then the prison's housing advice centre has approached other LHAs within the prison's discharge area. They identified the development of a common application form to facilitate referrals as an important piece of work that needs to be addressed.

Links have been developed further at HMP Cardiff. Here an electronic application form is used and accepted by a number of LHAs. Nacro are carrying out work to increase the number of LHAs involved.

Rent arrears and exclusions from the housing register

Given the 13-week limit to Housing Benefit entitlement, and the time it can take to terminate a tenancy, many prisoners accrue rent arrears at the start of their sentence. Many LHAs exclude or suspend applicants with rent arrears from their housing register. To address this issue some LHAs have accepted small, regular rent repayments from prisoners at HMP Cardiff as a sufficient condition to stop them from being excluded from the housing register.

Sharing information

HMP Altcourse has developed a range of practical actions following a meeting facilitated by Nacro. These include providing:

• maximum notice of a prisoner's release to the relevant LHA
• positive information sharing around issues of support and risk.

Rehousing offenders

Competing priorities

'Housing the Less Welcome', a Sitra [1]report commissioned by Essex Housing Officer's Group, set out some of the obstacles LHAs face when trying to prioritise offender housing as part of a wider strategy.

Housing for offenders is frequently given low priority. This is often because they are regarded as an 'undeserving group' because they have been convicted of a criminal offence. Resources are not necessarily allocated according to need.

In Essex, LHAs and the county council have traditionally maintained a reserve of resources for initiatives aimed at difficult-to-house groups. This has included housing for offenders, drug users, and care leavers. This demonstrates that resources can be made available for difficult-to-house, priority groups.

The importance of 'local champions' to promote such initiatives was identified as key to success. The report identifies that housing providers are likely to be in the best position to do this.

Consultation

Birmingham City Council is consulting the Prison Links Unit on their policy for rehousing:

• sex offenders
• potentially dangerous offenders
• offenders in general.

The Unit will look at ways of helping the council work more closely with prisons releasing prisoners into their area.

Probation

Probation is a key player in local commissioning arrangements under Supporting People.

In Nottingham, Nacro has developed a floating support scheme for offenders. This was a result of a tender jointly commissioned by the local authority and probation.

Supporting People is key in maintaining a profile for housing for offenders where support is needed. A stable housing base is critical if an offender is:

• being electronically monitored, or
• attending more rigorous probation reporting and attendance.

Linking housing and crime

If resources are to be channelled towards developing housing for offenders then it is important that this is reflected appropriately in related local strategies. The most obvious connections are between:

• local housing and homelessness strategies
• crime and disorder reduction strategies, and
• Supporting People.

Other strategies can link around health issues for offenders with mental health problems.

In Basildon, Nacro's Crime and Social Policy Unit acted as consultants, enabling the housing authority to incorporate good practice around offender housing into their 2001-2006 Housing Strategy. They highlighted the positive benefit that housing can play in reducing crime and antisocial behaviour among disadvantaged young people. This strategy then underpinned successful funding bids to the Housing Corporation by Nacro's Housing Directorate. The funding, part of the Safer Communities Fund, went towards a floating support scheme for young people and offenders.

Making connections

The above examples are purely illustrative in terms of what can be achieved. The important factor is the priority that key officers place on achieving this goal.

Working with Nacro

Nacro have a national steering group that informs their prison-based housing advice development work, and are interested in new members especially from LHAs and RSLs. For information about this and other work from the Prison Link Unit please email judith.ford@nacro079.easynet.co.uk

For all other information on Nacro contact Selina.Corkery@nacro.org.uk

[1]SITRA is a policy, training and consultancy charity for supported housing.