Here’s a summary of the provided content, along with key takeaways and organized into paragraphs.
Key Takeaways:
- Connecticut’s housing crisis persists, with a significant increase in families struggling to afford housing compared to pre-pandemic levels.
- The DataHaven survey highlights the urgency of addressing affordable housing needs across the entire state, not just in urban areas.
- There’s a strong correlation between incarceration history and housing instability, with formerly incarcerated individuals facing higher eviction rates.
- Advocates are pushing for legislation to prevent housing discrimination based on criminal records, emphasizing the need for individualized consideration.
- Housing instability impacts not only the individual but also their surrounding community, creating a ripple effect of negative consequences.
Summary:
Connecticut continues to grapple with a severe housing crisis, as highlighted by the recent DataHaven community wellbeing survey. The survey, conducted between August and October, interviewed nearly 1,400 residents, focusing on the changes in their health and housing security since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal a troubling trend: a significant increase in the number of families struggling to afford housing costs. Compared to 2018, approximately 150,000 more families in Connecticut reported running out of money for housing or shelter in the past year. While the rate of families experiencing this issue remained consistent with the previous year at around 12%, this figure is double the pre-pandemic rate of 6%, underscoring the pandemic’s exacerbating effect on housing affordability.
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving CEO Jay Williams emphasizes the widespread nature of the housing crisis, stressing that it extends beyond urban centers like Hartford and affects even wealthier areas like Fairfield County. He hopes the DataHaven report will serve as a catalyst for a statewide conversation among community foundations and policymakers, leading to coordinated efforts to address the urgent need for affordable housing across Connecticut. The report underscores the necessity of collaborative, data-driven solutions to mitigate the housing crisis and its far-reaching consequences.
The DataHaven survey also sheds light on the intersection of incarceration and housing instability. The report found that nearly 30 percent of adults who have been incarcerated two or more times have also experienced multiple evictions. This statistic highlights the significant challenges faced by formerly incarcerated individuals in securing stable housing, often due to the stigma and legal barriers associated with a criminal record. This makes it extremely difficult for them to become productive members of their communities.
For the past five years, housing advocates in Connecticut have been advocating for a law that would prevent landlords from discriminating against potential tenants based on their criminal history, especially in regards to previous felony convictions. They argue that a person’s past should not automatically disqualify them from accessing safe and affordable housing. Kim Blankenship, an American University sociologist, explains that having a criminal record can severely limit access to various forms of support, including public housing and housing subsidies, ultimately increasing the risk of eviction.
Advocates are calling for a more nuanced approach to evaluating housing applications from formerly incarcerated individuals. They believe that landlords should consider the specific circumstances of the crime, the offender’s age at the time, the length of their sentence, and their behavior since being released from prison. This would allow for a more fair and individualized assessment of each applicant, rather than a blanket denial based solely on their criminal record.
Blankenship emphasized that the negative effects of evicting people with criminal records extend far beyond the individuals themselves. It impacts the entire community surrounding them, creating instability and hardship for families and other people close to the formerly incarcerated individual. When people are unable to find stable housing, it can lead to a ripple effect of negative consequences, including increased risk of homelessness, unemployment, and recidivism. By addressing housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated individuals, Connecticut can promote community stability, reduce recidivism rates, and create a more equitable society for all its residents.
