Veterans  Jus+ce  Outreach:  Suppor+ng  Returning  Prisoners  

Marshall  Johnston  Na+onal  Center  on  Homelessness  

Among  Veterans  

In  the  last  37  years,  the  incarcerated  popula+on  has  more  than  quadrupled  In  the  US.    

 

Number of sentenced prisoners admitted to and released from state or federal prison 1977-2000

Source:  The  Urban  Ins+tute.  Based  on  Bureau  of  Jus+ce  Sta+s+cs  na+onal  prisoner  sta+s+cs.  

Homeless  are  Over-­‐represented  in  Prison  Popula+ons  

•  Homeless  are  high-­‐risk  for  arrest/incarcera+on  •  1999  –  Bureau  of  Jus+ce  Sta+s+cs  study  found  that  12%  of  state  &  federal  Inmates  reported  being  homeless  at  the  +me  of  their  arrest.    •  1997  –  A  California  Department  of  Correc+ons  study  found  that  10%  of  California  parolees  were  homeless,  and  in  urban  areas  (LA,  San  Fran)  the  number  of  homeless  parolees  ranges  from  30-­‐50%    

Veterans  overrepresented  in  the  homeless  popula+on  

•  Released  inmates  are  high-­‐risk  for  homelessness  

•  33%  of  homeless  men  are  veterans  (Burt  et  al.  1999)  •  1%  of  homeless  women  are  veterans  (Burt  et  al.  1999)  

VA  Ending  Homelessness  Ini+a+ve  

•  The  recent  a^en+on  that  these  issues  have  drawn,  prompted  the  VA  ini+a+ve  to  eliminate  homelessness  among  veterans  by  2015.    •  VJP  (Veterans  Jus+ce  Programs)  

•  VJO  (Veterans  Jus+ce  Outreach)  •  HCRV  (Health  Care  for  Reentry  Veterans)  

What  predicts  homelessness  in  HCRV  programs  at  program  exit?  

•  Research  Ques+on:  Are  VJPs  (specifically  HCRV)  successful  in  reducing  homelessness  upon  societal  reentry?  

Dependent  Variables  

•  N=4868  – Housing  arrangements  at  program  exit  

– Housing  stability  at  program  exit  Frequency   Percent  

Stable  (0)   4245   86.92%  Unstable  (1)   639   13.08%  

Frequency   Percent  (Housed)  0   3254   66.77%  (Homeless)  1   1614   33.23%  

Independent  Variables  

•  Program  comple+on  •  Employment  status  •  Financial  benefits  •  Housing  at  the  +me  of  arrest  •  Alcohol,  drug,  mental  health,  medical,  social,  and  voca+onal  issues  

Descrip+ves  •  N=4868  – Study  limited  to  individuals  for  whom  housing  status  at  program  exit  was  known  

Age   Frequency   Percent  Missing   12   0.25  18-­‐24   38   0.78  25-­‐34   419   8.58  35-­‐44   678   13.88  45-­‐54   1576   32.27  55-­‐64   1645   33.68  65+   516   10.57  

Gender   Frequency   Percent  Missing   16   0.33  Female   88   1.8  Male   4780   97.87  

Race   Frequency   Percent  

American  Indian  or  Alaskan   147   3.01  

Asian   21   0.43  

Black  or  African  American   1428   29.24  Na+ve  Hawaiian  or  Other  

Pacific  Islander   17   0.35  

White   3168   64.86  Don’t  Know   29   0.59  

Vet  declined  to  answer   32   0.66  Interviewer  omi^ed  item   42   0.86  

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Process  

•  Running  frequencies  •  Recoding  variables  to  eliminate  those  without  enough  power  – Frequencies  on  re-­‐coded  variables  

•  Chi  Square  test  –  observing  bivariate  associa+ons  

•  Odds  Ra+os  –  iden+fying  at-­‐risk  popula+ons  

Example  Data:  Ini+al  Frequency  ddlHCRVEQ8 (Employment) Frequency Percent Cumulative Frequency Cumulative Percent

8793 53.43 8793 53.43 Actively seeking employment 852 5.18 9645 58.6 Disabled or retired 1087 6.6 10732 65.21 Don't know 3129 19.01 13861 84.22 Full-time employment 209 1.27 14070 85.49 Other vocational training 46 0.28 14116 85.77 Part-time or temporary employment 133 0.81 14249 86.58 Student 56 0.34 14305 86.92 Unemployed 2015 12.24 16320 99.16 Unpaid volunteer 22 0.13 16342 99.3 VA's IT or CWT (VI) 116 0.7 16458 100

if ddlHCRVEQ8ID=3 then employment = 5; else if ddlHCRVEQ8ID=4 then employment = 6; else if ddlHCRVEQ8ID in (5,6,7,8) then employment = 3; else if ddlHCRVEQ8ID = 9 then employment = 4; else employment = ddlHCRVEQ8ID;

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Example  Data:  Final  Frequency  Employment & Housing Housed Percent Housed Homeless Percent Homeless Total Total Percentage Disabled or retired 391 8.01% 560 11.47% 951 19.47% Unemployed 1662 34.03% 133 2.72% 1795 36.75% Actively seeking employment 302 6.18% 390 7.99% 692 14.17% Vocational training, unpaid volunteer, student 139 2.85% 68 1.39% 207 4.24% Donít know; 577 11.81% 255 5.22% 832 17.04% Part-time employment 137 2.81% 60 1.23% 197 4.03% Full-time employment 53 1.09% 157 3.21% 210 4.30%

Employment & stability Stable Percent Stable Unstable Percent Unstable Total Total Percentage Disabled or retired 137 2.81% 814 16.67% 951 19.47% Unemployed 207 4.24% 1588 32.51% 1795 36.75% Actively seeking employment 108 2.21% 584 11.96% 692 14.17% Vocational training, unpaid volunteer, student 24 0.49% 183 3.75% 207 4.24% Donít know; 135 2.76% 697 14.27% 832 17.04% Part-time employment 16 0.33% 181 3.71% 197 4.03% Full-time employment 12 0.25% 198 4.05% 210 4.30%

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Example  data:  Chi  Squared  

Significance  Variable Degrees of

Freedom Chi Square P-value

Employment by Housed 5 1064.8236 <.0001

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Example  Data:  Odds  Ra+os  Housed & Full-Time Employment Point Estimate 95% Confidence Limit (minimum) Confidence Limit (maximum) employment 0 vs 6 0.542 0.366 0.801 employment 1 vs 6 0.055 0.037 0.082 employment 2 vs 6 0.436 0.299 0.634 employment 3 vs 6 0.235 0.148 0.373 employment 4 vs 6 0.257 0.174 0.378 employment 5 vs 6 0.240 0.150 0.385

Housed  vs  Homeless  1  ÷  0.542  =  1.845  (disabled/re+red)  1  ÷  0.055  =  18.18  (unemployed)  1  ÷  0.436  =  2.294  (seeking  employment)  1  ÷  0.235  =  4.255  (voca+onal  training,  unpaid  volunteer,  student)  1  ÷  0.257  =  3.891  (don’t  know)  1  ÷  0.24  =  4.167  (part-­‐+me  employment)  

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Stability  Results:  Odds  Ra+os  

•  Non-­‐VA  benefits  – Neither  receiving  nor  planning  to  apply  VS  currently  receiving  and  will  con+nue:  0.66  

•  Prior  Housing  – homeless  VS  house/apartment:  2.17  – Group  living  or  ins+tu+onalized  VS  house/apartment:  1.83  

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Stability  Results:  Odds  Ra+os  

•  Drug  – Not  a  problem  area  VS  problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  0.72  

•  Employment  – Disabled/re+red  VS  full-­‐+me  employment:  2.35  – Unemployed  VS  full-­‐+me  employment:  2.54  – Seeking  employment  VS  full-­‐+me  employment:  2.29  

– Unknown  VS  full-­‐+me  employment:  3.37  

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Stability  Results:  Odds  Ra+os  

•  Age  – 35-­‐44  VS  55-­‐64:  0.7  

•  Voca+onal  Deficits  – Not  a  problem  area  VS  problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  0.73  

•  Social  or  recrea+onal  deficits  – Not  a  problem  area  VS  problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  1.77  

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Stability  Results:  No  Significance  

•  Veteran  race  •  Gender  •  Ending  reason  •  VA  benefits  •  Alcohol  •  Mental  Health  •  Medical  

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Housing  Results:  Odds  Ra+os  

•  Prior  Housing  – Homeless  VS  house/apartment:  2.0  – Trailer,  mobile  home,  hotel,  motel  VS  house/apartment:  1.62  

– Group  living  or  ins+tu+onalized  VS  house/apartment:  2.34  

•  Age  – 18-­‐24  VS  55-­‐64:  0.22  – 65+  VS  55-­‐64:  1.36  

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Housing  Results:  Odds  Ra+os  

•  VA  Benefits  –  Neither  receiving  nor  planning  to  apply  VS  currently  receiving:  1.45  

–  Planning  to  apply/pending  applica+on  VS  currently  receiving:  1.57  

–  Status  unknown  VS  currently  receiving:  2.02  •  Ending  reason  –  Released  to  area  no  served  by  HCRV  VS  successful  comple+on:  0.63  

–  Incarcerated  VS  successful  comple+on:  43.48  

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Housing  Results:  Odds  Ra+os  •  Social  

–  Problem  area  with  no  arranged  treatment  VS  Problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  2.5  

–  Not  a  problem  area  VS  problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  1.73  

•  Alcohol  –  Not  a  problem  area  VS  problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  0.64  

•  Medical  –  Problem  area  with  no  arranged  treatment  VS  Problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  2.5  

–  Not  a  problem  area  VS  problem  area  with  arranged  treatment:  1.73  

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Housing  Results:  No  Significance  

•  Veteran  race  •  Veteran  gender  •  Non-­‐VA  benefits  •  Drug  •  Mental  health  •  Voca+onal  deficits  

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Next  Steps  

•  More  coding  •  Data  collec+on  by  VJO  specialists  needs  to  be  more  uniform  

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My  Role  

•  Literature  review  •  Instruc+on  on  coding  •  Research  paper  •  Sta+s+cal  analysis  

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Lessons  Learned  

•  Introductory  sta+s+cs  •  SPSS  •  Wri+ng  – Literature  review  – Research  paper  

•  Importance  of  collec+ng  quality  data  •  Hundreds  of  random  “fun  facts”  about  veterans  

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Acknowledgements    

•  Dennis  Culhane  •  Jonathan  Rajkumar  •  Tom  Byrne  •  Elizabeth  Flatley  •  Ken  Steif  •  Dan  Treglia  •  Joanne  Levy  •  Safa  Browne  •  Hoag  Levins,  Megan  Pellegrino  •  VA  Na+onal  Center  on  Homelessness,  UPenn  LDI