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experiencing an incarceration episode were more likely to have mental health, substance abuse,
and co-occurring disorders. However, in multivariate models predicting incarceration, having a
diagnosis of a severe and persistent mental illness (i.e., bipolar or schizophrenia disorder), as
well as co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders, were no longer independent
predictors of incarceration. In multivariate models, only substance abuse disorders remained an
independent predictor of incarceration. The authors note that these results are consistent
criminological theories which suggest substance abuse is largely responsible for incarceration
risk (Andrews & Bonta, 2006; Bonta, Law, & Hanson, 1998; Lamberti, 2007). These models
view substance abuse as a problematic behavior (rather than a secondary consequence of mental
illness), and support interventions using legal leverage to maintain community tenure.
Investments in such interventions should be increased and promulgated to help prevent
homelessness among those arrested/incarcerated in jails.
Those in prison experience much greater rates of homelessness when compared to that of
the general population. Greenberg and Rosenheck (2008b) conducted a secondary analysis of a
national sample of adult state and federal prison inmates who completed the 2004 Survey of
Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. Results from this study found that 9.2% of
prison inmates had been homeless in the year prior to their arrest with 1.7% homeless at the time
of their arrest. Further, the rate of homelessness among prison inmates was found to be 4 to 6
times the annual rate of homelessness in the general population. While mental illness and
substance abuse were common among all prison inmates, those who were homeless had
significantly higher rates of behavioral health needs. When compared to other prison inmates,
those who were homeless were more likely to have past criminal justice system involvement,
mental illness and substance abuse problems, histories of trauma, as well as to be poor.
Research conducted by Metraux and Culhane (2004, 2006) suggests that different
trajectories exist between homelessness/jail and homelessness/prison for those utilizing shelter
services. Findings from these studies indicate that there is a much more immediate link between
prison release and shelter utilization (with an episode of homelessness most likely to incur within
30 days of release); this suggests that homelessness among those released from prisons is more
an issue of reentry into the community. For those leaving jails, a different relationship exists
between incarceration and shelter utilization (Metraux & Culhane, 2006). This relationship is
characterized by a “more sequential pattern featuring multiple stays in each system and a more
prolonged pattern of residential instability” (Metraux, Roman, & Cho, 2007, p. 8)
Taken together, current research supports the concept of the “institutional circuit”
between shelters, jails, prison and other institutions experienced by homelessness proposed by
Hopper and colleagues (1997). While most of the existing evidence linking homelessness and
criminal justice interaction is correlational, this research provides factors which may be
amenable to intervention to prevent homelessness among those leaving carceral institutions
(Metraux, Roman, & Cho, 2007). Interventions to prevent homelessness among those leaving
carceral institutions should focus on: adequate discharge planning and other support services
available to those incarcerated prior to their release; the provision of a continuum of housing
options for those who have been incarcerated, specific to the needs of persons released from
carceral institutions and including supported housing; integrating services and treatment with
housing services (permanent or transitional); the use of case management models for service
delivery; the “front-loading” of services whereby more intensive services are provided during a
critical time period where persons are thought to be at high risk for subsequent re-incarceration
and/or homeless (Nelson, Deess, & Allen, 1999)