The winter edition of the New York State Bar Association’s Government, Law and Policy Journal features an article on reentry supportive housing co-authored by former New York City Correction Commissioner and Probation Commissioner Martin Horn, and CSH Eastern Region Managing Director Ryan Moser.
“NYC FUSE Reentry Housing: A Scalable, Data-Driven Solution for a Wicked Issue” delves into what it really takes to help those leaving the criminal justice system find stability and services they need to build new lives in the community.
After years of watching those exiting jails and prisons fall into repeated homelessness, and in too many instances return to incarceration, leaders in corrections turned to reentry supportive housing. Moser and Horn pull no punches in laying out the tragedies and troubling statistics that led policymakers to conclude there had to be a better way to ensure individuals reentering have a chance to succeed.
Using NYC FUSE Reentry Housing as the springboard, the authors explain the background propelling the model forward, how it was developed, the data, evaluation, and reasons for replication. They also provide a blueprint for moving forward to maximize the promise and impact of reentry housing.
FUSE (Frequent Users Services Enhancement) reentry housing is a CSH signature initiative helping communities identify and engage high utilizers of public systems, ultimately placing them in supportive housing in order to break the cycle of repeated use of costly crisis services and involvement in shelters and the criminal justice system. Supportive housing offers the stability of an affordable apartment and access to the services – medical, behavioral health, employment – to address many challenges that may have contributed to their incarceration in the first place.
Columbia University evaluated the New York City NYC FUSE, which placed over 200 individuals in rental units, and concluded supportive housing can reduce homelessness, incarceration and costs for public systems. In 2014, NYC Mayor de Blasio recognized the success of FUSE and committed to expanding this model as part of his initiative to address the high number of people in need of mental health treatment who cycle in and out of New York City’s jails.
Moser and Horn weave this together in their joint piece and provide compelling reasons why states, counties and cities should be looking at reentry housing to reduce public expenses, homelessness and recidivism.
You can read a related opinion piece by former Commissioner Horn posted on the CSH Pipeline.
