From Prison to the Streets: Understanding the Incarceration-Homelessness Pipeline

The Scale of the Problem

Research from the Prison Policy Initiative found that formerly incarcerated people are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general population. In any given year, approximately 50,000 people enter shelters directly from prisons and jails.

But shelter counts understate the problem. Many formerly incarcerated people never make it to shelters. They sleep in cars, under bridges, in encampments, or cycle between the streets and short jail stays. They are among the least visible and most vulnerable of the homeless population.

In Tulsa's 2025 Point-in-Time survey, 56% of people experiencing homelessness reported a history of justice involvement. In Oklahoma City, the rate is similar. This is not a minor factor in homelessness. It is a primary driver.

Why Incarceration Leads to Homelessness

The connection between incarceration and homelessness is not mysterious. It results from specific, identifiable barriers that make stable housing nearly impossible to obtain after release.

Housing Exclusion Policies

Most private landlords conduct background checks and reject applicants with criminal records. This is not illegal in most cases. It is standard practice. A study in Seattle found that 55% of landlords would not consider applicants with any criminal history.

Public housing is even more restrictive. Federal law allows and sometimes requires public housing authorities to deny admission based on criminal history. While rules have loosened somewhat, many people remain permanently barred from subsidized housing due to convictions years or decades in the past.

The exclusions are often categorical. It does not matter if the conviction was 20 years ago. It does not matter if the person has demonstrated rehabilitation. The record follows them forever.

Employment Barriers

Without income, housing is impossible regardless of background check policies. Formerly incarcerated people face massive employment discrimination:

• • Most employers conduct background checks and use results to screen applicants
• • Many occupational licenses are denied to people with felony convictions
• • Skills and work experience from before incarceration become stale during long sentences
• • Employment gaps are difficult to explain and raise red flags

Studies show that having a criminal record reduces callback rates for job applications by 50%. For Black applicants, the penalty is even higher.

Loss of Social Networks

When someone goes to prison, relationships often do not survive. Marriages end. Children grow up without them. Friends move on. By the time of release, the informal support networks that most people rely on during hard times may no longer exist.

Family members who might have provided temporary housing get tired of the cycle. After multiple incarcerations, even the most supportive relatives may refuse to help again.

Inadequate Reentry Planning

In theory, prisons prepare people for release. In practice, reentry planning is often minimal. Many people are released with:

• • No confirmed housing arrangements
• • No job lined up
• • Minimal cash (often $50 or less in "gate money")
• • Medications that will run out in days
• • No connection to community services

The first 48 hours after release are critical. Without a plan, people end up on the streets almost immediately.

The Revolving Door

Homelessness after incarceration dramatically increases the risk of reincarceration. The relationship is bidirectional: incarceration causes homelessness, and homelessness causes incarceration.

When someone is homeless, they become vulnerable to arrest for survival activities:

• • Trespassing (sleeping in parks, on private property)
• • Public intoxication
• • Open container violations
• • Camping ordinance violations
• • Theft for survival (food, clothing)

Even minor arrests create probation and parole violations. Missing a meeting with a parole officer because you have no phone, no transportation, and no stable address can send someone back to prison for years.

The result is a cycle: prison, release, homelessness, survival crimes, arrest, prison again. Each cycle makes the next one more likely. Social networks erode further. Employment becomes more difficult. Hope diminishes.

What Works: Breaking the Cycle

The cycle can be broken, but it requires intervention at multiple points. Effective programs share several characteristics:

Pre-Release Housing Arrangements

The most effective programs begin planning for housing months before release, not in the final days. They identify housing options, build relationships with landlords willing to accept people with records, and ensure someone has a place to go on day one.

Transitional Housing Programs

Transitional housing specifically for people leaving incarceration provides a bridge. These programs typically offer:

• • 6-24 months of stable housing
• • Case management and support services
• • Employment assistance and job training
• • Substance abuse treatment when needed
• • Help building rental history and credit

Employment Programs

Successful reentry requires income. Programs that partner with employers willing to hire people with records, provide job training in marketable skills, and offer ongoing employment support show strong results.

Social enterprises that employ formerly incarcerated people directly (construction, manufacturing, food service) can provide immediate employment while participants build track records for future employers.

Peer Support

People who have successfully navigated reentry are uniquely qualified to help others. Peer mentors understand the challenges in ways that professional case managers cannot. They provide credible hope that change is possible.

Comprehensive Services

The most effective programs address multiple needs simultaneously:

• • Mental health treatment
• • Substance abuse recovery
• • Education and GED programs
• • Legal assistance for record expungement
• • Family reunification support
• • Financial literacy and credit repair

The Steady Ground Approach

The Steady Ground was designed with the incarceration-homelessness pipeline specifically in mind. A significant portion of the men we will serve will have justice involvement. Our model addresses this reality:

• • Long-term residential program: 12-24 months rather than short-term shelter, providing time for genuine transformation
• • Comprehensive assessment: The Stronghold Assessment identifies each man's specific needs including trauma, mental health, and manipulation patterns
• • On-site job training: Farm operations, construction, food service, all building real skills with real work history
• • Transitional housing pathway: Graduation to independent living with continued support
• • Brotherhood model: Building the social networks that prevent isolation and relapse

We do not define men by their worst moments. A criminal record is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of a restoration narrative.