Who are the people reentering the community from jails and prisons? They are about 95% of the people who now occupy jails and prisons. Almost all people who are incarcerated will leave custody to return to the community eventually, and everyone benefits when they can do so successfully. However, numerous characteristics of this population make success challenging.

Many people reentering the community are doing so with a criminal record that can interfere with access to public housing, food assistance, and other resources. Additionally, a large number of people reentering the community have one or more mental disorders (figure 8.2). As this population navigates community life, they are multiply-challenged by their justice involvement and their experience of mental illness, substance use, disability—or all of these. This group may also have other vulnerabilities (e.g., youth) and marginalizing factors (e.g., race) that further increase the difficulty of their reentry journeys. Race, for example, has been demonstrated to impact a person’s access to community housing due to racial discrimination in the housing and rental markets.

Trauma is another burden carried by many people in the reentry process. Some groups of formerly incarcerated people are more likely than others to have trauma experiences, including retraumatization in jail and prison, before they begin the reentry process. Women, and Black women in particular, are at much greater risk of coming into the criminal justice system with prior experiences of trauma from events like intimate partner violence (Mason, 2021; Johnson et al., 2022). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals are also more likely to have experienced trauma-inducing violent victimization, including some forms of sexual assault, compared to others (Truman & Morgan, 2022).

Incarceration itself (figure 8.3) has negative impacts on health, including mental health. Jail and prison settings involve increased risk of coercion, isolation, sexual and physical violence, and intimidation. Unfortunately, people living with mental disorders are more likely than other people to experience victimization or exploitation while in jail or prison. They are also more likely than other incarcerated people to incur disciplinary infractions and suffer punishment as a result. The increased likelihood of punishment and traumatic events for people with mental disorders can have long-term consequences that extend beyond incarceration into the reentry period. It is critical that reentry services be provided in ways that are mindful of the presence of trauma in this group.

Licenses and Attributions for Reentry Population

Open Content, Shared Previously

“Reentry Population” is adapted from Best Practices for Successful Reentry From Criminal Justice Settings for People Living With Mental Health Conditions and/or Substance Use Disorders by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is in the Public Domain. Modifications, by Anne Nichol, licensed under CC BY 4.0, include condensing and revising the content.

Figure 8.2. Photo by Courtney Smith is licensed under the Unsplash License.

Figure 8.3. Photo by Robert Klank is licensed under the Unsplash License.