New housing to be provided to prison leavers

The Welsh Housing and Local Government Minister, Julie James, announced a new scheme to support prison leavers into housing, as a means of breaking the cycle of prison and homelessness in Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf, on Friday 12^th July 2019.

According to the minister’s statement, £273,000 will be invested into the scheme so as to support men leaving prison in HMP Cardiff and women leaving prison in HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire, while a further ten Housing First places will be provided by Cardiff City Council.

The Minister stated: “I want to see an end to homelessness in Wales. First and foremost, we must prevent people becoming homeless in the first place. This means tackling the endless cycle of those people who leave prison and end up on our streets.

“I visited Cardiff Prison earlier this year and talked to inmates who told me about being released onto the streets, having nowhere to go, reoffending and going straight back to prison.

“This is no way to live and no way for our system to operate. Preventing homelessness through projects like Housing First can help individuals to get their lives back on track, and ensure we use public funding more effectively.”

Housing First operates as way to support people who need significant levels of help to move away from homelessness and, through the programme, people receiving support are offered a place to live, their offer is tailored to their situation, and they are given long term support to help them to manage a tenancy independently.

The Director of the National Probation Service in Wales, Ian Barrow added: “We know that settled accommodation on release from prison is a critical factor in reducing reoffending and protecting the public, as well as providing the best opportunity for our prison leavers to reintegrate and to make lasting positive change.

“The initiation of Her Majesty’s Prison Cardiff and Eastwood Park, Housing First project and the Rhondda Cynon Taf Housing Led pilot, represent the beginning of a long term collaborative commitment to providing a range of innovative and sustainable housing solutions that respond to the risk and need of individuals subject to community and custodial sentences in Wales.”

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