Supporting People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Leaving Prison

This chapter reviews the literature on supports and intervention for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) leaving prison. It discusses the intrapersonal and subsistence conditions of people with IDD leaving prison, identifying specific individual issues related to cognition and behaviour, as well as social influences regarding housing, income, and employment conditions. For ex‐prisoners with IDD, the interplay of cognitive and behavioural challenges with physical and mental health conditions are important considerations in community reintegration. The chapter provides a brief summary of the literature relating to individual conditions that have an impact on the reintegration of offenders with IDD. Support conditions include social support, disability service support, and criminal justice intervention for ex‐prisoners with IDD are reviewed. People with IDD appeared to transition into living arrangements based on factors of convenience, such as the availability of family members to take them in, rather than by any standardized risk assessments.