It’s Christmas Eve, and the central and orienting narrative of the Christian faith is the story of a savior, born as a human being in a humble manger, offering forgiveness and redemption. Much can be made of the fact that story finds the protagonists with no proper housing situation in light of the fact that Bethlehem was full; there was “no room in the inn.” So on this Christmas Eve it seems like a good time to share, as a holiday post, about an important program that provides housing options for people who might otherwise find themselves homeless. But this program isn’t a housing option for expectant mothers, but a very hard to house group: people emerging from our prison system.

Each year, thousands of people in jails and prisons in Washington State find themselves with what is called an Earned Release Date or ERD. That means the prisoner has behaved well, made progress on their program, or met their requirements for being released ahead of their scheduled release date. These prisoners have to figure out where they are going to go after release, something that presents a challenge for those behind bars. According to the Department of Corrections,

Most offenders sentenced to prison in Washington State are required to provide a reasonable and safe release plan, including a residential address, to the Department of Corrections, which must be investigated and approved before the offender can be released. Some offenders find themselves without release options due to a lack of family or community support, lack of suitable housing options or simply lack of funds to pay for housing. Offenders in this circumstance remain in custody at an average cost of $3,000⁄month until a release plan is approved, which can take months or, in some cases, years.

It’s hard enough to find a place to live with ready access to the Internet, a car, and a cellphone to follow up; but how does a prisoner still behind bars set up adequate housing, especially when most housing requires a criminal background check and good credit. What happens, then, is that prisoners can’t be released and they end up finishing their full sentence. That means the State of Washington has to continue to pay, essentially, for their housing with scarce taxpayer dollars. In addition to the cost, a prisoner who wants to get started with recovery or finding employment has to wait in jail.

This is why in 2009 the Washington State Legislature passed SB 5525, creating the Earned Release Housing Voucher Program that finds transitional housing options and pays for a former prisoner’s housing costs with a voucher for three months. Why do this? Research conducted by Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl & Zachary Hays and published in an article titled, Removing Release Impediments and Reducing Correctional Costs: Evaluation of Washington State’s Housing Voucher Program (Justice Quarterly) found that the program saves money, prevents return visits to prison, and reduces homelessness.

It’s worth quoting the article at length:

Securing stable housing in a safe and healthy environment is a necessary first step for recently released offenders in the long process of maintaining employment, meeting supervision conditions, and adhering to treatment (Lutze & Kigerl, 2013). Failure to acquire a suitable place of residence can interfere with these other conditions of reintegration and may make desisting from crime more difficult. For example, it is possible that offenders may get stuck in a negative feedback loop between homelessness and incarceration, as a disproportionate number of offenders do not have stable housing prior to their incarceration (Harding & Harding, 2006), and therefore have no place to return when they are released into community supervision (Petersilia, 2001).

This “negative feedback loop” means more money apprehending and locking up people when they reoffend, having more crime victims, and the loss of potential in a human being who could have given back to the community. The study found that the Housing Voucher Program saved money.

The total weighted costs of rent expenses paid out to voucher recipients and administrative and supervision costs of the program for the duration of the study were $2,198,254.80. However, paying such expenses was associated with lower initial incarceration costs via earlier release to the community, amounting to $2,640,875.53 for the [Housing Voucher Program] HVP group and $9,218,643.44 for the comparison group (difference of $6,577,587.91). In addition, recidivism costs were also lower amongst the voucher sample, resulting in $21,296,793.00 worth of new crimes for the HVP group, and $30,248,975.28 worth of new crimes for the comparison group (difference of $8,952,182.28). The amount spent on the voucher program relative to the sum of the two cost differences (early release and recidivism) equates to a cost benefit ratio of 1:7.06, where every dollar invested in paying for an offender’s voucher expenses saved over 7 dollars in other costs through HVP (emphasis is mine).

Huge savings, fewer crimes, more recovery and hope for people trying to break the cycle of crime and homelessness. This is a housing program that works. Smart Growth Seattle will be working with the Rental Housing Association, the Department of Corrections, and the Committee to End Homelessness in 2015 to figure out how the program can be expanded and enriched so released prisoners can find a home and future in Seattle. This Christmas and holiday season we can remember that the story of Christianity is one of forgiveness and redemption; the HVP is a significant step toward getting more of both.