Jail is not a solution for our homelessness problem

The 'Homeless Hub newsletter' website ran a recent story entitled 'jail is not a solution for our homelessness problem'. The article is by Stephen Gaetz. Visit the homeless hub website at http://getrevealed.bm23.com/public/?q=preview_message&fn=Link&t=1&ssid=9815&id=2xs4y5vsvsm9gcqiox39nrvmtz8uh&id2=0kvt1rwfgcyc529rynfaguaxkkllo&subscriber_id=aezpyxmyhsufynvttceikoxlwufxbfe&messageversion_id=bpcvnboghyabaxfvjkqwzpostwltbdp&delivery_id=baxspmcipgnqonipxkcoyemzgqvkbae&tid=3.Jlc.BIUCRw.B7B4.JzVi..Kizx.b..s.veQ.a.TMc6jA.TMc-4A.YZBmWA

"When we talk about the Canadian response to homelessness, we usually refer to things like emergency shelters, charitable food programs, drop ins and other supports. One of the things we don't talk about enough is the relationship between homelessness and criminal justice. That is, one of the central features of our response is the use of policing, courts and jails as a way of dealing with homelessness. A recently released report by the John Howard society presents a powerful indictment (if I can use court language) of this situation. In their study, Homeless and Jailed, Jailed and Homeless, the JHS research team interviewed 363 sentenced prisoners, and they uncovered some disturbing findings. For instance, I think that many Canadians would be surprised to learn that roughly one in every five prisoners was homeless immediately prior to winding up in jail."