Win-Win: Housing for People with Criminal Records

In Illinois, 50% of the population is estimated to have an arrest or conviction record. That’s nearly 5 million people who face barriers to finding stable housing, which has proven to be foundational for employment success, family stability, and overall well-being. This report recommends a number of policies and practices—ranging from small changes to the more robust—for housing providers to use to increase housing opportunities for people with criminal records. This brief and set of recommendations was produced out of a diverse partnership, with each partner sharing deep expertise, including Cabrini Green Legal Aid:, Heartland Housing, Inc., Interstate Realty Management, LUCHA, Mercy Housing Lakefront, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and The Paul Douglas Institute at University of Chicago. The work was generously supported and catalyzed by The Chicago Community Trust’s Housing + Criminal Records Initiative. See the Heartland Alliance announcement for more.

Rory Gates, Sara Graziano, Nicholas Newton-Cheh, Michael Ryter, and Jack Votava