What Happens To Women When They Leave Prison?

Each year, over 630,000 people leave state and federal prisons and return home.

And whether they serve a a couple months or a multi-year sentence, 93% will eventually be released and asked to reintegrate back into their community.

But, when they do finally return home, it’s not exactly an ideal situation.

In most cases, they’ll be nearly abandoned — they’ll have no job, they’ll have no place to live, they’ll have no support plan, and they’ll have very few programs to assist them.

It’s an abysmal failure in the American criminal justice system, one that deeply reflects our lack of care for the formerly incarcerated.

But while many people will make an immediate connection to “men” and “imprisonment” — as males do make up the majority of U.S. prisoners — incarcerated women now outnumber all Western European countries combined.

It’s a staggering and sobering statistic — one that needs to be addressed.

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Women and Reentry

In 1986, the Anti–Drug Abuse Act was passed, prohibiting judges from giving lighter and less severe sentences for women.

The result? The number of incarcerated women rose 888%.

And while the total number of incarcerated women is substantially lower than that of men — comprising of just 6.7% of the total jail population in state and federal prisons — women make up 24% of all adults on probation and 11% of adults on parole.

Why the discrepancy?

Well, most of this comes down to the “reason for arrest” where women are more likely to be serving jail for a drug arrest rather than a violent crime.

But despite serving time for more minor offenses, women find themselves with additional challenges — challenges that men simply don’t have.

1. Over 70% of incarcerated women are reported having young children.
2. They are much more likely to have mental health issues upon release.
3. Incarcerated women are stigmatized.
4. Housing is more difficult to obtain for women.

In total, there are over 815,000 on probation or parole, 113,000 incarcerated in state and federal prisons, and 93,000 residing in local jails as of 2010. Returning to poor, socially disadvantaged populations, most formerly incarcerated women reentering society have medical problems, have been victimized or abused, and have mental health instability.

Housing For Released Prisoners

The main problem women have after returning home? Most landlords refuse to rent to ex-offenders.

However, even our own public housing system isn’t designed to accept the formerly incarcerated. That’s because public housing, like private housing, also has rules for those with a criminal background.

If public housing suspects that even ONE person within a family has a criminal history, then the whole family can be denied shelter.

This often results in ‘public housing families’ having to choose between leaving their home or pushing a family member into homelessness.

Additionally, there are even rules in place preventing ex-offenders from visiting public housing (especially when it comes to male visitors). This not only disrupts a families’ way of life, but it forces women to raise children by themselves — limiting shared responsibilities and much needed resources.

Even worse, those that are NOT ex-offenders, are still sometimes barred from obtaining housing.

According to George Lipsitz, author of In an Avalanche Every Snowflake Pleads Not Guilty”: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration and Impediments to Women’s Fair Housing Rights, innocent people are falsely accused of crimes pretty regularly — making housing sometimes just as impossible for the innocent.

Pre-release planning is almost nonexistent

One of the more immediate problems during reentry is a lack of pre-release planning.

In a study called An Exploration of Community Reentry Needs and Services for Prisoners: A Focus on Care to Limit Return to High-Risk Behavior, the authors found that one of the most pressing issues during reentry is the “immediate” need of housing, the lack of options, and no planning.

Many incarcerated persons who had lined up housing prior to release, found their plans falling through just before reentry.

There are a lot of time when you need the places that you thought you were going to be accepted, you’re not. If you thought you were staying with family, they said they’d take, they changed their minds.”

African American, male” (Luther et al., 2011, p. 477).

Several participants of the study described having to engage in criminal behavior in order to secure a ride or a place to stay. In doing so, they had to connect with old social networks, making many women resort back to substance abuse within the very first night of release.

In some cases, all-female prisons are located father away. This sometimes leads to females engaging in prostitution for transportation; which can be especially vulnerable if released during night hours.

“Oh, I want to be clean and sober,” then they walk out the door, you got a man, a trick come to pick you up, “Hey, you need a ride?” They know people are getting out. They know what time.”

(Luther et al., 2011, p. 478).

Many cited “immediate” housing as the biggest obstacle.

That’s one of my biggest fears when I get out on the 22nd. ‘Cause my (substance abuse treatment assessment) appointments not until the 23rd. Do you know what I mean? So where am I going to lay me head that night when I get out on the 22nd? I have no idea. Nowhere to go.”

White, female” (Luther et al., 2011, p. 478).

So what are the actual Housing Options?

Upon release from prison, individuals have just a few options for housing.

They can either (1) stay with a friend or relative, or (2) find an assistance program.

So, for those without social resources and/or options for assistance/benefits, they ultimately have 5 choices. They can try: (1) private market, (2) transitional housing, (3) community based correctional housing, (4) federally subsidized housing, and (5) homeless assistance housing through HUD.

And unfortunately, none of them are exactly perfect systems — just like “pre-release planning,” most programs have waitlist, rules, and regulations that barely scratch the surface of actually solving the problem.

Complicating this issue is a returning prisoner’s ineligibility of food stamps, veteran’s benefits, and benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Unless modified by a state, people with a drug conviction are usually barred from receiving these benefits.

And yes, there are other benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), but when an individual is incarcerated for more than a month, these benefits get suspended — it can take several weeks to gain these benefits back after release — not exactly ideal for someone trying to find immediate shelter.

What do Women think about their Housing Options?

Formerly incarcerated women personally cite housing as one of the greatest barrier to reentry, especially when it comes to transitional housing (one of the more popular reentry methods).

Differing from other housing programs, transitional housing is typically short-term with the intention of helping residents integrate back into the community. With services such as life skills and substance abuse treatment, this kind of support is supposed to be there until residents can secure long-term housing.

Typically run through non-profits or faith-based organizations, transitional housing has good intentions, but it isn’t perfect.

One study conducted at an all-female transition house described the women as grateful for transitional housing, but irritated at the amount of surveillance. According to the study, women absolutely “resented” the amount of monitoring by staff.

In another instance, as the study notes, a facility required that all visitors provide permanent phone addresses. But because many visitors could not afford to have a land line, residents would fabricate numbers. Thus, they would break policy and increase their chances of eviction. Even more frustrating for the residents was that this kind of behavior violated their conditions of release, but other rules, such as drug use, were often overlooked.

In another study identifying the social consequences of men and women during reentry, women were found to identify housing as a top priority after release where men found unemployment and education as most important. The study found that 71% of women viewed housing as a top priority after release while only 18% of men said housing was a priority. It can also be noted that the study found men had a more difficult time with work and school while women had a more difficult time with housing and substance use after release.

Similarly, in another study called Gender-Specific Correlates of Incarceration Among Marginally Housed Individuals in San Francisco, the authors found that women were more prone to incarceration the longer they stayed on the streets. For men, short-term street stays were more likely to cause incarceration.

Incarcerated women are often stigmatized as bad parents

Formerly incarcerated women are often stigmatized as being bad parents, making them appear ill-equipped to raise children. This often leads to women, especially black women, having difficulty retrieving their children from foster care.

The Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act terminates custody of a child after the child has been in care for 15 months. But with the average prison span lasting longer than 22 months, those with long sentences are least likely to gain back custody.

Those that do obtain custody, however, must prove stable housing and employment. And in some cases, women must first meet Child Welfare Requirements to regain custody. To meet these requirements “a woman must locate housing adequate for the size of her family but often, in the case of subsidized housing, cannot rent a large enough apartment until the children are actually in her custody” (It can be noted that as of 2007, there were 65,600 females in prison (state or federal) with some 1.7 million minor children).

Doctors Joyce Arditti and April Few, authors of Maternal Distress and Women’s Reentry into Family and Community Life discuss how difficult it is for mothers to return to their families. One woman in their study, Karen, discussed the financial implications of reentry saying, ‘‘I came home to NOTHING. No clothes, no possessions I had nothing for my daughter’s birthday . . . I don’t have a pot to piss in, let alone a home for my children.”

Reentry and mental health

Formerly incarcerated women are also far more likely to have mental health issues than men.

Trauma — something women often experience in prison — only exacerbates already existing mental health issues, sometimes leading to increased depression and thoughts of suicide.

In 2010 alone, some 73% of incarcerated women said that they were suffering from a mental health disorder.

And because women are now the fastest growing prison population in the United States, this number has undoubtedly increased.

Additionally, women are also victims of class oppression. As men typically earn higher wages, women have to spend more of their income on housing and other financial needs, thus making it more difficult to reintegrate and increasing their chance of developing a mental illness.

Conclusion

Research has shown that those who have received support through pre-release training and housing assistance have had more success in integrating back into their communities — women returning from prison could benefit from such policies.

As discussed above, women are disproportionately affected by incarceration and suffer greater consequences as a result. Whether it be their inability to secure transportation once released, their risk of losing child custody, or their inability to secure safe and stable housing, women are far more vulnerable to imprisonment than men.

With housing being a top priority for women leaving prison, it’s time our policies and legal practices reflect this.

References

Arditti, J., & Few, A. (2008). Maternal Distress and Women’s Reentry into Family and Community Life. Family Process, 47(3). doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2008.00255.x

Berman, J. (2012). Women Offender Transition and Reentry: Gender Responsive Approaches to Transitioning Women Offenders from Prison to the Community. National Institute of Corrections . Retrieved from http://static.nicic.gov/Library/021815.pdf

Cossyleon, J., & Reichert, J. (2015). Women and Reentry: John Maki Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority State of Illinois Bruce Rauner, Governor Evaluation of St. Leonard’s Ministries’ Grace House Program. St. Leonard’s Ministries. Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/40710419/FINAL_GRACE_HOUSE_REPORT_2015.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1493348703&Signature=Qq%2FWLwD0KqauAZ46RfrjlFonTNc%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DWomen_and_reentry_Evaluation_of_the_St..pdf

Cox, R. J. (2011). The Impact of Mass Incarceration on the Lives of African American Women. The Review of Black Political Economy, 39(2), 203-212. doi:10.1007/s12114-011-9114-2

Freudenberg, N., Daniels, J., Crum, M., Perkins, T., & Beth, R. (2008). Coming Home From Jail: The Social and Health Consequences of Community Reentry for Women, Male Adolescents, and Their Families and Communities. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 191-202. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2004.056325

Lipsitz, G. (2012). “In an Avalanche Every Snowflake Pleads Not Guilty”: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration and Impediments to Women’s Fair Housing Rights. UCLA Law Review, 59(6). Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/command/detail?vid=16&sid=4cb0d1c4-d7e4-4f55-b0d3-b42c54c4cd61%40sessionmgr4009&hid=4214&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=82191482&db=a9h

Luther, J. B., Reichert, E. S., Holloway, E. D., Roth, A. M., & Aalsma, M. C. (2011). An Exploration of Community Reentry Needs and Services for Prisoners: A Focus on Care to Limit Return to High-Risk Behavior. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 25(8), 475-481. doi:10.1089/apc.2010.0372

Roman, C. G., & Travis, J. (2004). Taking Stock: Housing, Homelessness, and Prisoner Reentry. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e720362011-001

Snodgrass, J. L., Jenkins, B. B., & Tate, K. F. (2017). More Than a Job Club, Sister: Career Intervention for Women Following Incarceration. The Career Development Quarterly, 65(1), 29-43. doi:10.1002/cdq.12078

Weiser, S. D., Neilands, T. B., Comfort, M. L., Dilworth, S. E., Cohen, J., Tulsky, J. P., & Riley, E. D. (2009). Gender-Specific Correlates of Incarceration Among Marginally Housed Individuals in San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health, 99(8), 1459-1463. doi:10.2105/ajph.2008.141655