Prisoner Reentry and the Welfare State

• In Event: Ethnographies of the Carceral State I

Abstract

Returning home from incarceration is typically experienced as a transition into severe poverty. To meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and medical care, former prisoners rely on a patchwork of transitional housing facilities and safety-net programs, including food stamps, cash assistance, and Medicare. However, states vary considerably in terms of the availability of transitional housing facilities and the generosity of safety-net programs for former prisoners, especially those convicted of drug-related felonies. For example, eighteen states allow former prisoners convicted of drug-related felonies to receive food stamps without restriction. Twenty-six states only allow drug offenders to receive food stamps after meeting certain eligibility requirements, such as participation in treatment programs, while six states ban drug offenders from receiving food stamps for life. How do former prisoners navigate conditions of severe poverty in these varying policy contexts? How does the availability of food stamps and other safety-net programs (or lack thereof) shape former prisoners' poverty survival strategies?

Author

• John Halushka, San José State University