Milwaukee County receives funding to address homelessness and incarceration » Urban Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE – Today, Milwaukee County announced it has been selected to participate in the Just Home Project, a national program to advance community-driven efforts to end the link between homelessness and incarceration, led by John D. and Catherine T .MacArthur Foundation and the Urban Institute.

The Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will receive $375,000 to create a plan to break the cycle of homelessness and continue engagement with the criminal justice system. At the conclusion of this planning process, Milwaukee County will be eligible to receive additional funding from the MacArthur Foundation to implement their plan and acquire or develop housing for populations currently underserved by existing housing resources.

“Housing safety and affordability are critical issues facing our community. That’s why it’s welcome news that Milwaukee County has been selected to participate in the Just Home Project so we can continue to tackle these challenges head-on and ensure residents and families have access to housing, supportive services and the second chance they need to have.” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “This will be a new tool in our multifaceted approach to tackling housing insecurity and reducing recidivism. I am proud of this new partnership that will help advance our vision of achieving race and health equity to become the healthiest county in Wisconsin.”

“We are grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for this first-of-its-kind investment in Milwaukee County,” said James MathyHousing Administrator, Milwaukee County DHHS. “We see housing as an important social determinant of health and look forward to creating new and innovative models to ensure there are alternatives to incarceration that focus on a housing solution.”

“The impact of the criminal justice system is far-reaching, and solutions to over-incarceration require strategies to address its most critical drivers.” said Laurie Garduque, Director of Criminal Justice at the MacArthur Foundation. “We look forward to working with experienced practitioners, community members, local organizations and government stakeholders in Los Angeles, Buncombe County, Philadelphia, Allegheny County, Milwaukee and Missoula County to continue developing models to improve support crises of housing instability and over-incarceration. ”

“We are excited to bring this blended model of grant funding, impact investing and technical assistance to more places to support locally driven solutions,” said Kelly Walsh, Chief policy officer at the Urban Institute. “We are especially grateful to the teams in each province who will create new housing for people at risk of remaining stuck in a cycle of housing instability and incarceration.”

Today, the cycle from prison to homelessness persists in Milwaukee and across the country. In the United States, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness reported an average of 21 contacts with police in just six months, and people in prison face significant barriers to finding and maintaining stable housing; this increases their risk of re-incarceration. People with a history of justice involvement have limited access to housing assistance and face discriminatory screening when applying for housing. Experiencing chronic homelessness can also increase the likelihood of someone becoming involved with the justice system due to policies that criminalize sleeping, sitting, and asking for resources and money in public spaces.

The Just Home Project strives to provide community-driven solutions to address this persistent and widespread problem. This funding, coupled with technical support from the Urban Institute, will allow Milwaukee County to create its own unique plans to address the crisis in their region. Each plan will be based on the combined expertise of government officials, nonprofit partners and committed community members. Upon completion of these plans, communities will be eligible to receive further investments from MacArthur to implement these strategies.

Upon completion of their plan, Milwaukee County will have the opportunity to apply for additional support from MacArthur in the form of an impact investment, expanding MacArthur’s capacity to achieve its philanthropic goals.

Milwaukee County is a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), an initiative that began in 2015 to reduce the overall jail population and racial and ethnic disparities in jails. Since its involvement in the initiative in 2016, Milwaukee County has implemented strategies that have safely reduced its jail population by 4 percent.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not authored by an Urban Milwaukee writer. Although the information is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.

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