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Opening Doors to Public Housing

Expanding Access for People with Conviction Histories

  • Margaret diZerega - Director, Center on Sentencing and Corrections
    Margaret diZerega
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Flyers for Public Housing Authorities on Reentry Housing

Public housing authorities are changing their policies to increase access for people with conviction histories—making communities, housing developments, and families safer. The Oklahoma City Housing Authority and the Lafayette Housing Authority recently reexamined their admissions policies to improve access. Both housing authorities are partners in ...

Publication
July 01, 2020
Publication

Finding housing is hard—but for people leaving prison and jail, it’s almost impossible

We need to open doors for people reentering society, not shut them.

In recent years, however, there has been growing momentum to ease restrictions around housing for formerly incarcerated individuals. In 2017, Vera launched the Opening Doors to Public Housing initiative to expand access to housing for people with conviction histories. Now, with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistan ...

Blog Post
  • Jack Duran
    Jack Duran
August 30, 2018
Blog Post

Opening Doors

Safely Increasing Access to Public Housing for People with Conviction Histories

For more than 600,000 people leaving prison and the nearly 11 million cycling through jails annually, research shows that safe, affordable housing is essential for them to succeed after they are released. While all public housing authorities (PHAs) must, by law, place lifetime exclusions on people who are lifetime-registered sex offenders or who ha ...

Publication
  • Brian Walsh
August 30, 2018
Publication

Series: Two Societies

Contemporary Models of Equal Access to Housing

The Family Reentry Pilot Program

Given the significant barriers to reentry for formerly incarcerated people—which leads to high personal and economic instability and a risk of recidivism—Vera and its partners in the NYCHA pilot program understood how vital it is for a person to connect with family or a support system in order to successfully reenter their community. The Family Ree ...

Blog Post
  • Preety Aujla
    Preety Aujla
May 07, 2018
Blog Post

Developing Reentry Programs

Lessons from Public Housing Authorities

My team in Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections have worked with 11 of these PHAs since November 2016 to document their innovations for a new guide, Opening Doors: How to develop reentry programs using examples from public housing authorities. The guide reveals components of a reentry program that PHAs should consider (such as partners, fund ...

Blog Post
  • John  Bae
    John Bae
September 29, 2017
Blog Post

Opening Doors

How to develop reentry programs using examples from public housing authorities

A growing number of public housing authorities (PHAs) across the country are implementing reentry programs and changing their policies to help formerly incarcerated people secure housing. This report highlights 11 PHAs doing this work and examines best practices and lessons learned from their experiences—including key factors of program design and ...

Publication
  • John Bae, Kate Finley, Margaret diZerega
September 29, 2017
Publication
"Keep Your Head On" Groundswell (c) 2017

Helping People with Prior Convictions Access NYC Public Housing

Finding housing is hard for people with conviction histories, especially in public housing. Most housing authorities in the country have policies that temporarily or permanently bar people with conviction histories, even though studies have shown that when people released from incarceration obtain stable housing, they are significantly more likely ...

Blog Post
  • Anne  McDonough
    Anne McDonough
June 30, 2017
Blog Post

Report to the New York City Housing Authority

Applying and Lifting Permanent Exclusions for Criminal Conduct

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is conducting an internal review of its policies related to permanent exclusions for criminal conduct on NYCHA property. Permanent exclusion (PE) occurs when a NYCHA tenant—rather than risk eviction—enters into a stipulation that those associated with the resident who have engaged in non-desirable behavi ...

Publication
  • Margaret diZerega, John Bae
February 08, 2017
Publication

Innovative Reentry Practices for Incarcerated People Coming Home

For an incarcerated person, leaving prison can be both exhilarating and overwhelming: freedom is finally palpable. But, for over 700,000 people leaving prisons and jails annually, the pressure of finding a home is an immediate and paramount strain. The mark of a past criminal record eliminates many housing possibilities precisely at the moment when ...

Blog Post
November 14, 2016
Blog Post

Coming Home

An Evaluation of the New York City Housing Authority’s Family Reentry Pilot Program

Public housing authorities across the nation historically have barred many with criminal records from public housing residency. However, given evidence of the critical role stable housing and family reunification plays for people coming back to their communities from incarceration, some housing authorities are rethinking their practices. This repor ...

Publication
  • John Bae, Margaret diZerega, Jacob Kang-Brown, Ryan Shanahan, Ram Subramanian
November 14, 2016
Publication

In New Orleans, the housing authority is helping people with criminal convictions rejoin families

Think about a particularly trying time in your life. Now think about not having a place to stay or family to support you during this time of hardship. Would you have made it? For people recently convicted of a crime, having a place to stay and the support of family are often the most influential factors in their success. But for decades, housin ...

Blog Post
  • Mathilde  Laisne
    Mathilde Laisne
March 30, 2016
Blog Post

Returning Home

NYCHA Family Reentry Pilot Program

Video
March 02, 2016
Video
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In the News

Vera Institute of Justice Expands Initiative to Increase Access to Public Housing for Formerly Incarcerated People

Vera Press Release August 11, 2020

Here's what Delaware is doing to improve reentry after prison (Opinion)

DelawareOnline April 17, 2019

How Cities Are Helping Former Felons Get Stable Housing

The Christian Science Monitor July 19, 2017

A Home After Prison

The New York Times June 21, 2016
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