For the past decade, Impact Justice has pioneered solutions to the most pressing criminal justice issues in the United States. Now, a significant new investment from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance will allow us to expand the impact of our innovative reentry housing efforts and invest in diverse national solutions with the creation of the National Housing Incubator.
The National Housing Incubator will serve as a powerful hub through which Impact Justice, housing experts and other strategic partners will provide robust financial and technical assistance to organizations seeking to refine or scale their own reentry housing programs. It joins the Homecoming Project and The Center under Impact Justice’s newest initiative, the Housing Lab. Through the Housing Lab, Impact Justice will continue to expand the Homecoming Project in California while supporting formerly incarcerated community members and championing promising reentry projects across the country.
Impact Justice’s Housing Lab will strengthen and expand on proven, community-based solutions to make a meaningful dent in our nation’s overlapping reentry and housing challenges.
The need for comprehensive and effective reentry programming nationwide has never been more urgent. Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons across the country. More than two thirds are rearrested within three years. At the same time, a prison to homelessness pipeline leaves formerly incarcerated people nearly ten times more likely to become homeless than the general public, fueling a cycle of criminalization that compounds an ever-worsening housing crisis. When reentry fails, the costs are high: more crime, more victims, more family distress, and more pressure on already-strained federal, state, and municipal budgets.
Bernadette Butler, previously our Director of the Homecoming Project, will be leading the expansion of Impact Justice’s housing portfolio in her new role as Director of the Housing Lab. “Impact Justice’s Housing Lab will strengthen and expand on proven, community-based solutions to make a meaningful dent in our nation’s overlapping reentry and housing challenges,” Butler says. “We are also thrilled to be working with a number of trusted partners to provide technical assistance and programmatic support to organizations across the country through the National Housing Incubator.”
