DENVER-
Homeless shelters are increasingly becoming a haven for ex-inmates just released from prison, with a new study finding nearly one in four in the Denver metro area taking refuge there.
“They’re in partnership with us,” said Tim Hand, assistant director of adult parole for the Department of Corrections. “It’s almost like they’re part of our structure.”
The study by the Piton Foundation and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition found that housing, difficulty in finding jobs, overcoming substance abuse, and dealing with a patchwork parole-support systems are some of the challenges facing parolees.
Piton is an organization that studies social problems in Denver and seeks alternatives to incarceration.
Piton analyzed the home addresses of about 6,600 Colorado parolees as of early May. Of 1,377 parolees in Denver, about 37 percent were at homeless shelters or other temporary housing. Across the metro area, about one-fourth of the 3,379 parolees were in temporary housing, which is defined as two or more parolees at the same address.
Many live in the shelters immediately after their release from prison, while others end up there after they fall upon hard times, said Christie Donner, director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.
“People don’t have their own money, don’t have a family or friends in the area,” she said.
The Salvation Army’s homeless shelter in lower downtown housed 141 parolees, by far the most, the study found. Other homeless shelters had between 10 and 22 parolees each.
Hand said the Salvation Army shelter is the only one in the Denver area that can accept parolees who are sex offenders because it does not house children.
The per-person costs to the Corrections Department vary from $35 a week at the Salvation Army shelter to $165 a week at some hotels, Hand said.
But, he added, “It’s better to pay $100 than have someone sleep under a bridge.”
