IN: Funding loss could force former sex offenders out of rehab housing

A local reentry program’s state funding has run out, leaving several men, including several registered sex offenders, at risk of losing housing and supervision.

An Indianapolis rehabilitation program for people just out of prison is running out of money. Without new funding, several former inmates, including registered sex offenders, could lose housing and supervision. The one-story brick home on the northeast side doesn’t draw much attention. No noise from inside. No decorations. A paper sign reading “no trick-or-treat household” stands ready by the inner doorway. Eight registered sex offenders live here.

For these men rebuilding from their past, this house is the difference between a roof and a relapse, a bed and a cell. It’s one of several houses run by KBDB, Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps people coming out of prison find re-entry into society by connecting residents with housing, jobs and stability. But on Friday, that program hit a roadblock. Time and money have run out.

Harris said her organization’s funding came through the Department of Correction’s RSAT grant, a state program that helps pay for sober-living and re-entry housing. She says it’s part of a larger funding shortage across Marion County that’s forcing some re-entry and sobriety programs to scale back or shut down.

Now, Harris fears what could happen once the support vanishes overnight.”Releasing them back into the community without resources, what do you think they’re going to do?,” Harris exclaimed. “We need a safe community, but we don’t have people that’s compassionate enough to say, ‘Okay, let’s put the money here and let’s support this cause, because they’re actually making a difference.'” For now, Harris said she hopes funding returns, but there are no guarantees when or if it does.

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