Philadelphia is one of six new cities and counties that will receive funding to provide housing for justice-involved people
PHILADELPHIA – Today, Philadelphia announced that it was selected to participate in the Just Home Project, a national program to advance community-driven efforts to break the link between homelessness and incarceration led by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Urban Institute. Philadelphia will receive $262,179 to create a plan to disrupt the cycle of homelessness and continued engagement with the criminal justice system. At the end of their planning process, Philadelphia is eligible to apply for additional funding from the MacArthur Foundation to implement their plan and acquire or develop housing for populations that are not currently served by existing housing resources.
“The City of Philadelphia is honored to have the opportunity to continue our partnership with the MacArthur Foundation as part of a national cohort of jurisdictions associated with the Just Home Project,” shared Adam Geer, Chief Public Safety Director, City of Philadelphia. “Housing insecurity has long been established as a barrier to successful reentry for the justice-involved members of our community and we look forward to working with key stakeholders across the housing, community development, and criminal justice systems to develop impactful and sustainable interventions for people at the intersection of housing insecurity and criminal justice involvement.”
Philadelphia’s planning process is a collaboration with other City departments, including the Office of Homeless Services, the Division of Housing and Community Development, the Office of Reentry Partnerships, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, as well as the Philadelphia Housing Authority, and many other community stakeholders. “In partnership with Impact Services Corporation, we’ve assembled a Community Advisory Board which includes 9 individuals who have lived experience with incarceration and understand first-hand the challenges of finding housing. We look forward to creating a housing investment action plan that is directly informed by their expertise,” said Orlando Rendon, Executive Director of the Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, City of Philadelphia.
“Impact is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Just Home project. This is Impact’s 50th year of providing services to justice-involved Philadelphians. Safe and stable housing is a persistent need for people with a history of incarceration. Guided by people with lived experience, we look forward to collectively and creatively identifying strategies to provide sustainable, dignified, affordable housing,” said Casey O’Donnell, President & CEO of Impact Services.
“The impact of the criminal justice system is far-reaching, and solutions to over-incarceration require strategies to address its most critical drivers head-on.” said Laurie Garduque, Director of Criminal Justice at the MacArthur Foundation. “We look forward to working with people with lived experience, community members, local organizations, and government stakeholders in all the participating communities to continue developing models to aid the crises of housing instability and over-incarceration.”
“We’re excited to bring this blended model of grant funding, impact investment and technical assistance to support locally-driven solutions to more places,” said Kelly Walsh, Principal Policy Associate at the Urban Institute. “We’re especially grateful to the teams in each county who will be creating new housing resources for people at risk of remaining trapped in a cycle of housing instability and jail.”
Today, the jail-homelessness cycle persists in Philadelphia and across the country. In the United States, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness reported an average of 21 contacts with police in just six months, and people who have been incarcerated face significant barriers to finding and maintaining stable housing; this increases their risk of re-incarceration. People with a history of justice involvement have limited access to housing assistance and face discriminatory screening when applying for housing. Experiencing chronic homelessness can also increase the chances that a person becomes involved with the justice system due to policies — that criminalize sleeping, sitting and asking for resources and money in public spaces.
The Just Home Project seeks to provide community-driven solutions to address this persistent and pervasive problem. This funding, coupled with technical support from the Urban Institute, ensures that Philadelphia can create its own unique plans for addressing the crisis in their region. Each plan will be informed by the combined expertise of government officials, nonprofit partners and impacted community members. Upon the completion of these plans, communities will be eligible to apply for further investment from MacArthur to execute these strategies.
Upon the completion of their plan, Philadelphia will have the opportunity to apply for additional support from MacArthur in the form of an impact investment, which expands MacArthur’s capacity to achieve its philanthropic goals.
Philadelphia is a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), an initiative that began in 2015 to reduce the overall jail population as well as racial and ethnic disparities in jails. Since Philadelphia was first awarded a planning grant for SJC in May 2015, the local jail population has been reduced by 41.4 percent.
About the MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur is placing a few big bets that truly significant progress is possible on some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including decreasing nuclear risk, promoting local justice reform in the U.S., and reducing corruption in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. In addition, the Foundation continues its historic commitments to the role of journalism in a responsive democracy as well as the vitality of our headquarters city, Chicago. MacArthur also is committed to building the field of impact investing and providing catalytic capital to address social and environmental challenges around the world. Learn more about the Foundation’s Criminal Justice reform and Impact Investment programs.
About the Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. We are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decision making, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered facts that inspire solutions—and this remains our charge today.