title: Incarceration histories of homeless veterans and progression through a national supported housing program.
abstract: There is increasing concern that adults with a past history of incarceration are at particular disadvantage in exiting homelessness. Supported housing with case management has emerged as the leading service model for assisting homeless adults; however there has been limited examination of the success of adults with past history of incarceration in obtaining housing within this paradigm. Data were examined on 14,557 veterans who entered a national supported housing program for homeless veterans, the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (HUD-VASH) during 2008 and 2009, to identify characteristics associated with a history of incarceration and to evaluate whether those with a history of incarceration are less likely to obtain housing and/or more likely to experience delays in the housing attainment process. Veterans who reported no past incarceration were compared with veterans with short incarceration histories (≤ 1 year) and those with long incarceration histories (>1 year). A majority of participants reported history of incarceration; 43 % reported short incarceration histories and 22 % reported long incarceration histories. After adjusting for baseline characteristics and site, history of incarceration did not appear to impede therapeutic alliance, progression through the housing process or obtaining housing. Within a national supported housing program, veterans with a history of incarceration were just as successful at obtaining housing in similar time frames when compared to veterans without any past incarceration. Supported housing programs, like HUD-VASH, appear to be able to overcome impediments faced by formerly incarcerated homeless veterans and therefore should be considered a a good model for housing assistance programs.
authors.affiliation: VA New England Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center, West Haven, CT, USA, nabyl.tejani@yale.edu.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tejani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosenheck
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kasprow
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McGuire
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011329:Prisoners; D011638:Public Housing; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data