Research suggests that treatment work; for every £1 spent on treatment, at least £9.50 is saved in health and criminal justice costs, and the savings could be twice that figure.(1)
Reducing Re-offending: a national action plan’(2) highlighted the importance of stable accommodation for offenders to the achievement of Government targets to reduce offending.
Housing related support services can help to ensure that the offender is able to maintain stable housing and reinforce the importance of participation, thereby increasing the chances of success. Research suggests that stable accommodation can reduce reconviction rates by over 20%, and ex-prisoners with an address on release are three times more likely to get a job.
The Prolific and Priority Offenders Scheme was introduced in September 2004 and aims to provide focused interventions for the 10% of offenders who commit 50% of all crime. Each local authority area has drawn up a list of its most prolific offenders who will then be targeted. Initial indications suggest that a high proportion of these prolific and priority offenders (PPOs) are substance misusers who commit high levels of acquisitive crime to fund their drug dependency and that many are also homeless.
National research into the support needs of homeless households carried out in 2003 (3), found that a history of drug use was common amongst single homeless people, and many of the staff dealing with homeless people who were interviewed thought those with substance misuse problems would require continuing support.
The Audit Commission (4) has reported that one in ten drug users starting treatment has no fixed address and that as many as one in three are in some form of housing need. Most studies of the levels of substance misuse amongst homeless people focus on single homeless people living in hostel accommodation. Estimates of the prevalence of problematic substance misuse amongst single homeless people vary, but can be as high as 80% (5).
Research into the relationship between homelessness and substance use carried out in 2002 (6) found nearly half the sample had been continuously homeless. These respondents were asked to give reasons for this and the two most commonly cited were drugs and financial problems. As for the rest of the sample, drug use was by far the most common reason for homelessness, with just over two in five (42%) viewing it as a reason why they still experienced homelessness. Other research (7) found that, amongst rough sleepers, the most common reasons given for tenancy breakdown were drink or drug related. Long-term drug users in particular reported a series of tenancies lost (30 in one case quoted in the research) because of their chaotic lifestyle and offending.
Some facts and figures:
There is strong research evidence of the importance of housing and housing services in reducing drug use from the US. A review of existing research carried out in 2001 (14) found the following:
The study concluded that existing research had demonstrated the importance of housing in providing alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services to homeless and homeless at-risk individuals. It recommended that individual communities ensure access to a comprehensive package of services and types of housing including entry level shelters where alcohol and drug use is permitted, post-detoxification stabilisation services, residential recovery facilities, transitional housing, low demand (wet) housing, supported housing, and permanent housing, some of which is alcohol and drug-free.
The study further concluded that, although housing is a necessary pre-condition for addressing the needs of individuals with issues related to the use of alcohol and drugs, the provision of housing alone is not a guarantee that people will be able to maintain sobriety or achieve housing stability and that many will require further support or treatment.
Other recent US based research monitored the abstinence rates of three groups who were randomly assigned different housing situations: no housing, housing with the need to remain abstinent, housing with a requirement to remain abstinent.(15) The study found that participants that were provided housing had significantly better abstinent rates and retention rates than those who were not provided with housing. For those engaged in initial day-treatment programmes, those in housing where abstinence was a requirement had better abstinence than the other groups.
Service users are also convinced of the importance of housing in helping them to achieve their treatment goals. A large-scale survey of substance misusers carried out by Addaction (16) found that 83% felt that stable housing was one of the most important support services required to help them stay clean. The study also found that treatment providers consistently highlighted housing as a principal concern for both male and female service users when re-entering the community (17)’.