In 2023, several of our patients were incarcerated, for various reasons, and for a few weeks or months.
Despite the willingness of patients and Street nurses to stay in touch and find solutions for problems arising after the release from prison, and despite the efforts of different workers and associations to ensure a good transition between “inside” and “outside”, it remains an uphill struggle!
On two occasions, we were informed of a release date for our incarcerated patients, but in both cases, they were freed several weeks early, giving us no time to organize a housing solution. We went to pick them up from Haren Prison. But to do what? To bring them back to where they lived on the street, and leave them there, without a lasting solution?
If incarcerated patients are applying for housing after being released from prison, their wish remains almost impossible to realize: their rights are frozen, they have no income anymore.
They should have enough savings to pay a first rent and a rental guarantee, and they must trust us because they cannot visit the apartment we offer - without which it’s impossible to sign the lease, and to draw up the inventory of fixtures...
It’s the same struggle if they want to be taken care of by an institution. To have access to protected housing or psychiatric care homes, one, two, sometimes three interviews are required. Again, an uphill struggle...
It is high time to facilitate the transition between “inside” and “outside”!