Homelessness Among Persons on Delaware's Sex Offender Registry.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Criminology
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Individuals on the Sex Offender Registry (SOR) face heightened risks of homelessness.
• Publicly accessible SOR data provides insights into this vulnerable population.
• Delaware's SOR data allows for temporal analysis of homelessness trends.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the prevalence and persistence of homelessness among individuals on the Delaware Sex Offender Registry (SOR) from 2021 to 2023.
• To assess the effectiveness of current support systems for this demographic.
• To understand the implications of homelessness on public safety and individual well-being.

Main Methods:

• Data extraction from the Delaware Sex Offender Registry (SOR) on two distinct dates.
• Calculation of homelessness prevalence rates within the SOR population.
• Tracking of individuals who reported homelessness between the two data collection points.

Main Results:

• Homelessness prevalence among Delaware SOR individuals increased from 4.6% in November 2021 to 5.5% fifteen months later.
• Of those homeless in November 2021, 46.7% remained homeless or became homeless again.
• The rates of homelessness are significantly higher than in the general population, with prolonged periods of unsheltered status.

Conclusions:

• Delaware faces significant challenges in providing adequate shelter and services for individuals on the SOR.
• Barriers to accessing services exacerbate homelessness for SOR-registered individuals.
• High rates of unsheltered homelessness among this population pose risks to public safety and individual welfare.