Homelessness wrecks former convicts’ ability to reintegrate into society

Homeless former convicts are more likely to reoffend according to a recent research study, but providing a stable, safe housing option for them is not an easy job.

Leith Nigel Castle has been in and out of prison for the past 13 years. He said he struggled to find stable housing options every time he was released.

Since 2018, Castle said, he has been living in campervans and tents or sleeping rough on the street at times.

“If the van is working alright, then living in the van is fine. Living in a tent is a bit harder because you are restricted in what you can wash, how you live, how you travel,” he said.

Castle said being mobile was essential to seeking employment, as many jobs require travelling – but employers today would require a criminal check even for the most humble and menial jobs, he said.

The 50-year-old, who is originally from Martinborough, was incarcerated for the first time in 2010 for meth supply, and released two years later after spending some months at the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre mental health facility in Hamilton.

He was then sent to prison in 2016 for meth supply, released in 2018, and incarcerated the same year after committing a burglary.

“When I got out on parole, I had nothing,” he said.

According to data released by the Ministry of Justice in July, around 35% of former convicts return to jail after 2 years of being released from prison. While in 2017 that percentage was 42% and in 2018 it was 43%.

Castle said after being released, he bought a van in Auckland for $2000, but he was still missing the security and safety, as well as the daily routines that come with a stable home – “Everyone wants a shower and a toilet,” he said.

He currently lived in his van in New Plymouth and would almost every day have cheap noodles and eggs, Castle said.

The former convict, who was also recovering from a car accident where he broke both his legs earlier this year, said the last time he had a job was in 2022, as the lack of a home affected his ability to seek employment too.

In September, a research paper was published showing how having access to a stable home can “support the processes of recovery and desistance” for former convicts in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Oxford Brookes University lecturer in criminology Grace Low, who authored the paper, said a lack of a stable home prevented former convicts from building positive connections and made it more difficult to engage with any rehabilitative interventions.

But a home could not be just four walls and a roof, it had to be a quality housing option, she said.

“It has got to be more than a roof over your head,” she said, “it has to have the psychosocial benefits of home, where people are in control, feel safe, and develop ontological security.”

Low, who completed her PhD last year at Auckland University, said ontological security was “a feeling of wellbeing that arises from having a sense of continuity in and control over your environment”.

Former convicts who leave jail and find themselves homeless did not have access to daily routines which would then affect their capacity to maintain a stable job, Low said.

Taranaki Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society (PARS) field worker Kylie Ewing said the volume of former convicts who were also homeless was growing.

Taranaki PARS was one of the eight PARS organisations operating around New Zealand, that helps people who have been to jail and who might have experienced or have ongoing drug and alcohol issues to find a house.

Ewing said very few clients of the organisation have found stable accommodation since 2021.

“There is a massive chasm that has opened up,” she said.

Ewing said former convicts who do not have a stable home would also find it almost impossible to open a bank account.

Blue-sky thinking a former convict would need a complete household to reintegrate into society, but quite often a room with shared facilities could be enough, she said.

“A lot of them have come from State Care right from when they were young and they lack basic knowledge on how to cook, clean,” Ewing said.

At times, this translated into food safety problems, she said, where people would leave proteins out of the fridge for days and get sick after eating them.

“Growing up, the kitchen is the heart of the home where everyone stays around helping prepare food.

“A lot of our clients don’t have those formed core memories of someone helping to prepare vegetables and helping to cook food”, Ewing said.

She said most former convicts who resorted to PARS were single men, with all of their belongings fitted in a backpack.