Now Available: The State of Reentry Housing Policy: A Partnership for Just Housing Convening Report
Oct 29, 2026
After decades of imprisoning people with punitive mandatory minimum sentences, lawmakers and criminal-legal system reform advocates began making progress in decarcerating prison inmates nationwide. Recognizing the central role housing plays in successful reentry, in April 2024 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), "Reducing Barriers to HUD Assisted Housing," proposing several meaningful changes to HUD's screening regulations for people with conviction histories applying to HUD-assisted housing.
However, HUD did not finalize this rule under the Biden administration and moved in a radically different direction under the Trump administration, withdrawing previous guidance and encouraging assisted housing providers to adopt practices that limit access to housing for formerly incarcerated and convicted people.
To better understand lessons from enacting and implementing state and local fair chance housing policies, the Partnership for Just Housing (PJH) convened advocates who had successfully passed these laws in their communities. The State of Reentry Housing Policy: A Partnership for Just Housing Convening Report details key findings from these conversations and offers recommendations for local, state, and federal policymakers and advocates seeking to pass similar legislation. These recommendations include:
- Ensuring formerly incarcerated and convicted people are at the table when designing fair chance housing and other reentry housing policies.
- Treating housing as a key part of reentry planning.
- Fostering partnerships to help expand capacity and build support.
- Including education, enforcement, and evaluation mechanisms in legislation.
- Providing funding for implementation and enforcement.
