Formerly incarcerated people are 10x more likely to be homeless on release

Formerly incarcerated people are nearly ten times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public -- 203 per 10,000 vs. approximately 20 per 10,000 -- and 570 per 10,000 experience housing insecurity. The people most harmed are those released from prison who face a cascading series of housing barriers: criminal background checks reject them from private rentals, public housing authorities maintain broad bans (though HUD has issued guidance against blanket prohibitions), and halfway house capacity is severely limited. A Department of Corrections survey found that 95% of reentry professionals cited lack of affordable housing as the most prevalent barrier, and 84% cited discrimination and stigma. Crucially, criminal record databases used by landlord screening services are riddled with errors -- outdated records, mismatched names, missing disposition data -- so even people whose charges were dismissed or who completed their sentences years ago get flagged and rejected. The research on why this matters is unambiguous: stable housing is the single most important factor in preventing recidivism, yet the system structurally denies it. New York City passed a Fair Chance for Housing law effective January 2025 that restricts when landlords can run background checks, but it remains the exception. This persists because landlords face no economic penalty for blanket criminal record bans (they have more applicants than units), tenant screening companies profit from selling background check services, and elected officials face political risk from being seen as 'soft on crime' if they pass housing protections for formerly incarcerated people.