The John Howard Society of Ontario provides support to people who are affected by the criminal justice system. Their mandate also includes research and public education. The Society’s report No Fixed Address, highlights connections between homelessness and incarceration.
The report’s authors are quick to point out limitations in their work. However, for people who may not be familiar with the justice system, it is highly illuminating. For example, reintegration services are provided to people when they finish serving sentences. This includes assistance to find and move to housing upon release.
These services are not offered to people who are remanded in custody, the people who have not been convicted or sentenced1.
Most of the people who are in Ontario’s prison system are remanded in custody. While remanded, they often lose their housing, their jobs, or both. Not a big surprise, then, that many experience homelessness upon release.
The report also discusses how being homeless is linked with incarceration. Police are regularly in contact with people who are homeless. People who are homeless are charged more frequently than their neighbours who are housed. Without money to raise bail, they are remanded in custody. If they aren’t convicted, they are released without support, often to homelessness. The cycle repeats.
This just touches the surface of the report, which is specific to Ontario. It will undoubtedly touch upon similar links between incarceration and homelessness that are present in other jurisdictions.
Breaking the cycle. It can be done. Here’s one example.
There are community spaces that support people who are homeless. The public library is one of them. They don’t charge admission. They provide shelter from the elements. They have washrooms. There are often internet connections. You can read and learn.
At one library branch in St. Louis, Missouri there are volunteer lawyers who are playing a key role in keeping people out of prison. The library-based initiative, called the Tap In Center, began in 2020.
Here’s one scenario that illustrates how the Tap In Center works. There is an outstanding warrant for your arrest. The warrant was issued automatically because you missed your trial. You had no knowledge of the trial because the notice was mailed to an old address and you don’t live there any more. You meet with a volunteer lawyer at the library and explain the circumstances. The lawyer discusses the case with the County Prosecutor. The County Prosecutor dismisses the warrant for arrest.
The Tap In Center opened in the fall of 2020 and operates two hours per week. To date, 300 people have been assisted and over 300 warrants have been dismissed. A second Tap In Center at another library opened in April 2022.
The success of one Tap In Center in St. Louis also suggests that libraries are potential players in efforts to de-link incarceration and homelessness in Ontario and elsewhere.
Read more at the John Howard Society of Ontario: No Fixed Address See also this interview with Safiyah Husein, who lead the research project with Michael Braithwaite2, who hosts weekly podcasts3 for the Canadian Alliance To End Homelessness: On the Way Home Podcast Ep. 80
. . . and about the St. Louis Tap In Center at Next City4: How an Experimental Service in a Library Prevents Incarceration
Footnotes
- Here’s an interview with a Toronto youth who, at 15, was remanded in a detention centre for four weeks. The charges against him were dropped and he was released from the detention centre, which was 100 km from home. His discharge plan included a token and a wave in the direction of the train station. See at Maytree: “Guilty until proven innocent”: Tyrone’s story
- Michael Braithwaite is also the Executive Director of Blue Door, which operates a number programs to support people who experience homelessness in York Region, Ontario.
- Here’s a link to all of the podcasts in the series: On The Way Home
- Next City provides three free reads per month. For more free reads, you will need sign up with an email address.
