Dudik, who is also running to be Montana’s next attorney general in 2020, doesn’t think the state got enough bang for its buck from the 2-year-old pilot program.
“It’s only available now to help offenders in three communities; in Missoula, Billings and Ravalli County. And no tribal entities applied for grants, so nobody in tribal communities are being served by the program.”
Legislators this session agreed to continue include funding for the Supportive Housing Program at its current $400,000 level in the two-year state budget bill, but its status as a grant program is over. It will instead be managed at the state level.
“The Department of Corrections will use the framework they have in place, using their re-entry staff and probation and parole officers to identify people who are in need, and then to assist them with housing vouchers,” Dudik says.
Meaning when someone leaves incarceration, Corrections Department officials will centrally determine who would be a good candidate for Supportive Housing assistance.