ICJIA's Interagency Task Force on Homelessness Report 3/20/2023

March 20, 2023 at 2:00pm

Dr. Millicent McCoy

• ICJIA is committed to ensuring that there is an equity lens applied to all our funding opportunities. We are committed to exploring opportunities to identify gaps in resources, increase access to underutilized housing options and build on supportive services within Illinois.
• There are proven data points that informs us that people who are returning to their communities from incarceration are 7-13x more likely to be homeless than the general population (Prison Policy Initiative).
• ICJIA has two primary areas that may directly or indirectly impact the state of homelessness within Illinois as it relates to the reentry population. Those areas are:
  • programs and funding
  • research and evaluation

Reentry Housing Opportunities

1 Programming & Funding Opportunities

• Reentry Housing Opportunities

  IDOC Partnership

  R3 Funding Opportunities

  Flexible Housing Pool

  VOCA Transitional Housing

IDOC Transitional Housing

• ICJIA is developing a partnership with IDOC to identify the needs of the reentry population, particularly as it relates to transitional housing.
• Increasing housing options will decrease the number of individuals being detained due to not having an identified host site, and possibly being released to homelessness.
• We will continue to work with DOC to rethink the housing model concept and find innovative ways to increase capacity for people being released from prison.

R3 Funding

• ICJIA is diligently working on the best approach to the next round of R3 funding and how best to incorporate reentry housing and supportive services.
• ICJIA is conducting table-top research to guide and inform our "asks."
• Working with external partners to help shape this narrative to best illustrate the need for intentional, targeted funding opportunities, with housing and supportive services being a primary concern.

Flexible Housing Pool Pilot

• ICJIA has agreed to support IDOC's partnership with the Flexible Housing Pool. The FHP provides scattered site supportive housing to individuals with high services needs who, without assistance of these resources, would be homeless following release from IDOC custody.
• ICJIA will collaborate closely with IDOC, Christine, and the investors to work out the specifics.

VOCA (Victims of Crime Act)

• FY24 - VOCA will obligate $2.8M in funds for Transitional Housing for Victims of Crime. VOCA funding can be used to provide services to currently or formerly incarcerated individuals under the same parameters for all victims of crime as outlined in the VOCA Rule.
• There are 8 community-based organizations that were awarded FY24VOCA funding for transitional housing.
• Some of the recipients of these services may be experiencing housing insecurities, may be homeless, or at risk of homelessness, due to their victimization.
• The theory of "victim-offender overlap" refers to the strong positive association between offending and victimization. Victims and those who have engaged in criminal activity are often the same people rotating between both roles rather than being different people in distinct groups.
• Based on ICJIA's Published research on the "offender-victim overlap" theory, we hypothesize that a percentage of the population that will receive housing assistance from VOCA dollars will be those in reentry.
• ICJIA will continue to develop methods of flushing this out further to be able to describe this percentage with precision.

• ICJIA will strategically cultivate a research and evaluation plan to clearly articulate the services being funded at the intersection of reentry and homelessness.
• To ensure that our practices, processes, and strategies relating to transitional housing, behavioral health, and supportive services are aligned, ICJIA will continue to conduct community site visits and program evaluations to assess the effectiveness of services.
• In addition to our work in the community, we have begun to visit IDOC institutions to meet with our brothers and sisters and inquire about their concerns, suggestions, and identified needs.
• Some of ICJIAs partnerships / thought partners are listed on the slide. Our seats on task forces such as this, at tables with ILJP, IRC, Justice 20/20, etc., allow us to hear and participate in robust discussions that inform the work we do.
• We will continue to partner with IDOC / Parole to determine transitional housing needs. We know that people on their reentry journey are more often at risk of homelessness 30-60 days after release if their host site is not prepared or supported for their loved one's journey. ICJIA wants to look at how to support transitional housing options holistically to mitigate the risk of homelessness.
• Our involvement at these tables provides opportunities to share information, to learn and suggest evidence-based / best practices to achieve the overall goal.

• An additional touchpoint that will assist with mitigating events of homelessness directly and indirectly is the work being done in the deflection space.
• Currently ICJIA is funding multiple deflection projects and entering research-practice partnerships by including practitioners in the generation process of research evidence. This can be achieved by conducting implementation evaluations on some of the programs which includes action plan development.
• The Springfield deflection program plans on assisting people experiencing housing insecurities, or in the state of homelessness, but they are in the very early stages of developing their action plan.

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Deflection Research

Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, Illinois Multi-Site Police-led Deflection Evaluation (through intergovernmental agreement), 2022- 2025.

1. Evaluation of Development of a Multijurisdictional Police-Based Deflection Program in Southern Illinois Jan 2023
2. Evaluation of the Development  of a Multijurisdictional Police-Led Deflection Program to Assist Victims of Violent Crime Jan 2023
3. Evaluation of the TASC Deflection Academy: Training for Law Enforcement-Led Deflection Program Staff Jan 2023

• This slide gives you a glimpse of the deflection research we have published which are accessible on our website.
• Our research is funded by multiple grants, JAG, National Institute of Justices and SUPR, to name a few.
• Research informs understanding.
• ICJIA's research can be one mechanism used to help improve policy by providing evidence-based recommendations on how to enhance effectiveness.

What can the taskforce do to support our efforts?

• We ask that we continue being intentional with our discussions surrounding homelessness with vulnerable populations such as those in reentry because their situation is unique.
• There must be considerations and resources easily available and accessible to support their journey, with housing, behavioral health and supportive services being the three primary focal points.
• We ask that not only this task-force but members here from other tables continue to develop spaces for dialogue and action planning and implementation, among state, city, county agencies, non-profits, for-profits, vital voices, and reentry practitioners to keep the urgency of mitigating events of homelessness alive.