"Failure to Appear" and Housing First w/ Brian Nam-Sonenstein (Unlocked)
Jul 5, 2024
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Writer Brian Nam-Sonenstein discusses the intersection of housing, disability, and incarceration. Topics include the impact of 'failure to appear' on recidivism, challenges faced by homeless individuals, and the need to redefine housing interventions. Critiques of Housing First programs are explored, along with the importance of addressing biases in risk assessment tools within the criminal justice system.
Failure to Appear in court intensifies criminalization and poses severe consequences for individuals.
Risk scores disproportionately penalize missed court appearances, reinforcing systemic discrimination in the legal system.
Housing First programs prioritize stable housing for homeless individuals with mental illnesses, facing challenges in scalability and funding.
Advocates call for nuanced, culturally sensitive interventions to combat homelessness beyond Housing First initiatives.
Deep dives
Failure to Appear: A System of Consequences
Failure to Appear in court can lead to escalated consequences and additional criminalization, portraying individuals as default dangerous individuals. Bench warrants are issued, leading to further charges, fines, fees, and potential incarceration. The risk score system heavily penalizes even a single missed court appearance, disproportionately affecting black, indigenous, and low-income individuals. The system perpetuates a cycle of instability and unjust consequences.
Challenging Risk Scores and Failure to Appear Policies
Risk scores heavily weight failure to appear as an indicator of future criminality, leading to biased recommendations for pre-trial incarceration. Even a single missed court date can have devastating consequences, impacting employment opportunities, housing, and exacerbating risk scores. The lack of nuance in failure to appear policies overlooks individual circumstances, perpetuating systemic discrimination and unjust treatment in the legal system.
Housing First Initiative: Providing Stability for the Homeless
Housing First programs prioritize immediate housing for chronically homeless individuals with substance use disorders or mental illnesses, offering stable housing and supportive services. These programs aim to reduce chronic homelessness and provide wraparound support without mandatory conditions like sobriety or treatment. However, housing first models face limitations in scalability, funding, and cultural inclusivity, promoting a constellation of housing solutions and recognizing the need for diverse approaches.
Navigating Housing First Limitations and Criticisms
While Housing First programs show success in reducing chronic homelessness, critics question their effectiveness at a community level and raise concerns about cost-saving incentives. Programs like Housing First face challenges in adequately addressing different housing needs, cultural considerations, and systemic limitations influenced by austerity measures. Addressing limitations involves recognizing the broader context of homelessness interventions and the need for diverse, comprehensive approaches.
Redefining Homelessness Interventions for Holistic Support
Advocates strive to enhance nuance and cultural sensitivity in homelessness interventions, challenging one-size-fits-all solutions like Housing First. Emphasizing support for diverse housing needs, community-level initiatives, and comprehensive wraparound services, a redefined approach seeks to address systemic limitations and biases within current homelessness interventions. By focusing on a holistic and culturally inclusive support system, efforts aim to create long-term stability and empowerment for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Progressive Approaches to Addressing Root Causes of Homelessness
Advocates prioritize community-level programs, cultural sensitivity, and comprehensive support systems to address the multifaceted causes of homelessness beyond Housing First initiatives. By advocating for nuanced, culturally sensitive interventions, they aim to create sustainable, transformative solutions that challenge societal biases, systemic limitations, and inadequate support services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
The Benefits of Housing First Programs
Housing first programs have been found to reduce emergency utilization such as in emergency rooms and crisis events. These programs enable individuals to access preventive care and necessary services, ultimately leading to better stability. Although housing first may not result in overall cost savings, it shifts costs to more beneficial services like preventative care, reducing traumatic experiences and supporting well-being. By stabilizing housing situations, individuals can access essential services and support themselves more effectively which can lead to increased costs initially but long-term benefits.
Criticisms of the Housing First Approach
Critics argue that the housing first approach may not effectively end homelessness at a community level, focusing only on individual solutions. This perspective raises questions about the true beneficiaries of such interventions, highlighting concerns about prioritizing residential stability over addressing health disorders. The discourse around rehabilitating individuals through housing programs as opposed to promoting residential stability reflects societal expectations for individuals experiencing homelessness. Additionally, the narrative shifts towards seeking specific outcomes like sobriety and mental wellness, contradicting the broader goals of housing first programs.
This episode was originally released for Death Panel patrons on October 23rd, 2023. To support the show and help make episodes like this one possible, become a patron at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod
Beatrice speaks with Brian Nam-Sonenstein about two recent briefs he wrote for Prison Policy Initiative focused on a few key intersections of housing, disability, incarceration, and the administrative state.
Transcript forthcoming.
Find the briefs here:
"High stakes mistakes: How courts respond to 'failure to appear'"
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/08/15/fta/
"Seeking shelter from mass incarceration: Fighting criminalization with Housing First"
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/09/11/housing-first/
Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism
Find Jules' new book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here:
https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny
Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch
As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod
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