A note from our Executive Director Courtney Bryan on why we prioritize housing justice.
When I was a public defender, many of my clients who experienced the best outcomes had one thing in common: a stable place to call home.
For judges, having a home was proof of community ties, which made them less likely to set bail. For prosecutors, having a home meant stability, which made them more likely to offer community sentences instead of incarceration. And for my clients, having a home made it easier to focus on the important things—jobs, school, family—which could help them lead fulfilling lives and avoid future contact with the legal system.
Housing and justice are deeply intertwined. In many ways, you can’t have one without the other. This is as true in Criminal Court, where I worked, as it is in Family Court, where families without stable housing faced prolonged court proceedings, delayed family reunifications, and interruptions to vital resources.
I believe everyone has a right to stable, affordable housing. But housing is more than a right. It is a prerequisite for mental and physical well-being, healthy child development, getting and keeping a job, succeeding in school—and limiting contact with the legal system.
If you doubt the link between stable housing and legal-system involvement, talk to the thousands of people who have taken part in our Supervised Release and Alternative to Incarceration programs. Over a third of them reported during their intake assessments that they were homeless, living in a shelter or transitional residence, or needed support with housing services.
Many of our participants live in communities hurt by systemic bias, the legacy of redlining, government and business underinvestment, and lower-quality schools, health care, food options, and other essential resources. These deeply rooted disadvantages also include discrimination in the housing market, high rents, severely limited public housing, unresponsive landlords, and poorly maintained housing stock.
If we want to build safe, healthy communities and a fair, humane justice system, we need to fight for housing justice, as well.
At the Center for Justice Innovation we've expanded our focus on housing justice over the years. In Harlem, the community invited us to open a justice center that focused on reducing evictions as a top priority. Similarly, when we worked with the community to plan a justice center in Red Hook, Brooklyn, housing and its link to safety was a frequent refrain.
Across our programs, we empower tenants with financial literacy, knowledge of their rights, assistance applying for benefits, rental assistance, lease adjustments, and resources to avoid evictions and resolve complaints against landlords. And in 30 public housing developments across New York City, we collaborate with tenants with resident-driven community organizing to enhance public safety and strengthen community well-being. For clients in Criminal Court, we help address their housing needs and try to reduce the harm that justice system involvement can have on their housing situation. And we provide services to the unhoused (who are 11 times more likely to be arrested than a housed person) through an innovative approach to street outreach by building long-term, trusting relationships and offering encouragement rather than coercion to facilitate referrals to services and transitional housing.
Our investment in housing justice uniquely positioned us to be able to help those most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our experienced staff and long-term partners organized and expedited delivery of food and protective equipment to tenants and also helped them access the forms and financial resources they needed to pay their rent and stay in their homes.
Although the worst days of the pandemic are behind us, the need for housing justice remains urgent. With rents rising and vacancy rates dropping, more and more people are facing housing instability. This is particularly true of the most vulnerable among us, including those returning from incarceration (79 percent of whom report being denied housing due to a criminal conviction).
It’s also true of the one in 17 New Yorkers who live in public housing. Forty-two percent of public housing tenants are seniors, disabled, or living on fixed income while many others are city employees—teachers, firefighters, and social workers. Every day they face health and safety risks posed by NYCHA’s aging and neglected buildings, which are in desperate need of $78 billion in repairs.
Of course, housing justice is important everywhere, not just in New York, which is why we’re also bringing a housing lens to our national work. In partnership with communities and organizations across the U.S., we craft housing solutions and emphasize the crucial relationship between housing, safety, and justice system outcomes.
By addressing issues early, providing essential resources, and empowering community members, we are strengthening public safety, increasing economic mobility, and helping people avoid—or minimize—involvement in the criminal legal system.
People sometimes ask me why the Center for Justice Innovation prioritizes housing justice. These folks know us mainly for our efforts to build community safety and end the overuse of jail. But the fact is we can't build safety or reduce the use of jail without housing justice. Nor, for that matter, can we live up to our ideals of equity and freedom, or have communities that are healthy and resilient and where everyone has a fair chance to thrive, if we don’t prioritize people’s fundamental needs, including their right to a safe, stable, and affordable home.