Evaluation of Homelessness Services for Prison Leavers

Homelessness is common amongst prison leavers and is linked to re-offending. Those who serve under a 12-month custodial sentence have historically been ineligible for post-release supervision. However, Acts introduced in England and Wales in 2015 were supposed to improve the resettlement of prison leavers by placing new responsibilities on local authorities.

This research investigated the experiences of prison leavers in Wales with surveys and interviews. A representative from local authority teams completed surveys, and interviews were conducted with local authority staff, prison staff, community-based housing support staff, staff from probation services supervising prison leavers on release, and prison leavers.

Strategic level policy outlines that addressing homelessness amongst prison leavers should start with prison staff making referrals on behalf of the prisoner 66 days before release. However, local authority staff claimed that they rarely received these referrals and often were only apprised of a prisoner’s situation after release when they turned up at their office. When they did receive a referral, it contained inadequate or inaccurate information that made it difficult for them to proceed. Local authority staff further claimed that communication and partnership working was difficult with prison workers, whereas prison staff suggested that local authority staff ascribed prison leavers as a lower priority.

Prison leavers, especially those who were in custody for under four months, were more likely to face homelessness on leaving prison. Some prison leavers also said that being homeless was linked to re-offending, as they would often commit a minor offence so they could return to prison, thus avoiding homelessness.

The research highlighted systemic challenges of rehoming prison leavers to avoid homelessness and acknowledges that there were examples of good practice where needs were assessed thoroughly. Even though stakeholders were critical of the current implementation of Government policy, they said the development was a step in the right direction. In conclusion, the researchers showed that there are problems with adopting a preventative approach to prison leavers due to staffing limitations inside prisons, lower priority ascribed to prisoners, the use of short-term prison sentences, and lack of housing options.

Read the full paper.

The team are currently building upon this work having just won joint research funding with the University of Glasgow from the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Read more about it on the Current Projects page.