Fewer people are becoming homeless after their release from Minnesota prisons, thanks to focused state efforts to reduce recidivism by helping stabilize former inmates' lives post-incarceration.
The decrease — 19% of the 4,586 people became homeless after leaving prison in 2022 — was highlighted in the Department of Correction's annual homelessness report. It's a nearly 6 percentage-point drop from 2021, when close to 25% of people became homeless after prison.
DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell said that while his goal is to have no inmates released into homelessness, he was pleased about the positive trend.
"That's important when it comes to thinking about public safety, especially when we know housing factors play a big role in a person's ability to re-enter the community," Schnell said.
Schnell cited a few factors for the decrease, including the state's increased capacity to connect higher-risk homeless people with public assistance benefits before release, thanks to a renewed agreement with the Department of Human Services. The results also follow completion of the DOC's new homelessness mitigation plan and legislative funding of $4.3 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year and $3.4 million for 2026-27 to assist with reducing post-prison homelessness.
Nearly 1 in 5 inmates becoming homeless upon release is still too high, Schnell said, particularly when the housing rate is so key to reducing recidivism.
"When housing instability affects such significant portions of their life, it becomes almost insurmountable for people to be successful, because they have to manage so much," he said. "Just being ready to go to work or get that job, it becomes impossible without housing."
Sarrell Jack has benefited from the state's housing efforts for incarcerated people. Jack spent time living on the streets in northern Minnesota before she was arrested in March. She spent four months in jail for DWI before her release in June as part of a drug court program.
