Home Is Where The Heart Is
Why Housing is the Most Important Issue for Returning Citizens
By Chasman Barnes, FRRC Staff Member
Many of our readers can identify with the world of emotions that returning citizens feel as they are released from incarceration.
Weeks, if not months, before the big day, incarcerated people stress and worry about where they will live.
Not all of them have a family to come home to.
Some don’t have one person willing to pick them up from the institution they are being released from. Even if they do, it may not mean they have a household to join or a stable roof to cover their heads.
In many cases, family members take on the responsibility of providing shelter for the loved one who is returning to society until they get on their feet. But the whole notion of “getting on your feet” for a returning citizen could take months to several years if they can’t secure attainable and sustainable housing.
When it comes down to the bare bones, housing is the most important issue facing returning citizens.
Here’s why.
Formerly incarcerated people are nearly 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public.
There are many reasons returning citizens face these barriers to housing; a key one is concerns about liability. In particular, landlords are often concerned that they could be held liable (and sued) if they rent to someone with a past criminal record.
We see this concern in the employment sphere when employers check job applicants’ records. In fact, the main reason employers screen applicants is to reduce liability — more than to ensure a safe working environment or to reduce or prevent criminal activity.
Landlords, like employers, have concerns about liability.
They, too, are required to maintain a safe environment, and they may be held liable for “foreseeable” negligence (failure to take proper care in doing something, in this case, failure to maintain a safe environment) if a tenant commits an offense on their property.
Landlords want to avoid this liability, but they cannot always foresee or predict the actions of their tenants and whether something will happen that would make them negligent. So they often screen applicants and consider any record as a proxy for an applicant’s potential to do something unsafe. With the risk of liability top of mind, nearly 4 in 5 landlords check applicants’ records, and many will deny housing to people with records.
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) fundamentally understands that reducing barriers to housing makes our communities safer. Returning citizens who cannot find stable housing are twice as likely to reoffend than those with housing. Meanwhile, people with access to housing commit fewer offenses, including the behaviors most likely to lead them back to incarceration.
Barriers to housing also make it harder for returning citizens to take care of their families and become productive, taxpaying members of society. Barriers to housing bring barriers to accessing healthcare services, getting and keeping a job, and participating in educational programs for adults and children.
This issue presents barriers for landlords too. One in 3 people has a record, and landlords who might want to rent to someone with a criminal record can be liable just for leasing to that individual. In these cases, it unduly restricts the landlord’s capacity to lease their property and creates an over-regulation of the housing market. Removing the risk of liability for landlords gives them more freedom to make choices about their property.
The Florida Legislature will reconvene in March, and when they do, FRRC aims to introduce legislation to address these barriers for landlords and returning citizens alike.
Several states have taken steps to reduce liability so that employers and landlords have more freedom in choosing applicants and returning citizens face fewer barriers to successful reentry. Nearly half of states have adopted laws to reduce employers’ liability in hiring people with past criminal records, and at least 11 states have created pathways to reduce liability for landlords in leasing to individuals with past criminal records.
This coming Legislative Session, we’ll be looking to you — our readers, Coalition members, and supporters — to help FRRC champion the cause of removing barriers to housing for returning citizens in Florida.
Home is indeed where the heart is, especially when it’s your heart’s desire to finally have your own home.
Returning citizens being able to attain, lease, and sustain housing not only increases public safety but also greatly adds to the quality of life, progress, and self-sufficiency of citizens who have paid their debt and are aiming to move forward with their lives.
That helps to create a better Florida for everyone.
About the author:
Chasman is a Policy Professional, Advocate for Returning Citizens in Criminal and Social Justice Reform, TEDx Speaker, and sought-after Communicator.
