NOTE:
This is a personal blog, any views or opinions represented in this blog belong solely to CIFF Consulting. WE ARE NOT Psychologists or Therapy Professionals, all data and information on these blogs is for informational purposes ONLY. In the comments section we are hoping that people can outline their experiences and foster communication that will assist others going through similar events.
A halfway house is a transition residence for those who are released from prison, and is required to take incremental steps with their transition to the community.
It is a community based residential facility for offenders, where there are residence rules that must be followed. Additionally, Halfway houses function as a back-up supervisory entity to ensure that offenders released to the community is following the conditions set forth by the Parole Board of Canada. (there is 24-hour supervision, counselling services and treatment programs), however the inmate can also gain employment (or go to school) and are usually closer to their families.
Types of halfway houses for Federal offenders:
1) Community Residential Facilities (CRFs): Thee are halfway houses run by nongovernmental private facilities and usually accept mostly non-violent offenders. There are approximately 175 CRF facilities throughout Canada. Click here for a list of CRFs.
2) Community Correctional Centers (CCCs): Are government run facilities run by CSC and will accept both non-violent and violent offenders. There are approximately 17 CCCs throughout Canada. Click here for a list of CCCs.
Who can go to a Halfway House?
Offenders who are granted Day Parole or Unescorted Temporary Absence can request residence to a halfway house and if they are accepted they can reside there when they get any of the two forms of releases. Inmates can also request ETA’s to a halfway house but these are essentially “day passes”, with no sleep overs.
To receive more information on Halfway houses, please review our “Resource page- Halfway house” for a list of the residences. Additionally, representatives of the halfway house usually visit the institutions “pre-release fairs” where the have outreach to the inmates who may be interested to learn about their facilities.
For those interested in a particular halfway house, it may be best to begin the reach-out process as soon as possible and build a rapport with the officials. It will make the approval process for acceptance easier and it can be beneficial to you for parole. Once Day Parole is granted the offender will be released into the custody of the halfway house (sometimes they will have to wait for a bed to become available which could take weeks or months).
