Women on parole report higher rates of housing instability, poor health and serious mental health and substance use disorders than men on parole and women who weren’t on parole, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice.

For people leaving prison, parole is a period of transition that can involve finding housing and work, reconnecting with family and accessing health care while also meeting the conditions of supervision. How well those pieces come together can shape whether someone successfully settles back into the community — a key part, some argue, of reducing future involvement with the criminal justice system and promoting public safety.

The council’s latest report examined nationally representative 2021-2023 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, comparing women who reported being on parole both with women who were not on parole and with men who were on parole.

About 13% of women on parole reported moving three or more times in the previous year, compared with 2% of women who were not on parole and 6% of men on parole, according to the analysis.

Women on parole also were more likely to report poor health. About 29% rated their overall health as fair or poor, compared with 16% of women not on parole and 17% of men on parole.

About 24% of women on parole met the criteria for a severe mental health disorder, compared with 7% of women not on parole and 10% of men on parole, according to the council’s report. About 25% of women on parole also reported experiencing a major depressive episode during the previous year, compared with 10% of women not on parole and 12% of men on parole.

The analysis found that substance use disorders were common among people on parole, but severe disorders were more prevalent among women. About 32% of women on parole met the criteria for a severe substance use disorder, compared with 24% of men on parole and 3% of women not on parole.

The disparity was especially large for opioid use. About 18% of women on parole met the criteria for a severe opioid use disorder, compared with 5% of men on parole and 0.4% of women not on parole.

Health and housing can make the demands of reentry harder to manage, including maintaining employment, attending treatment and supervision appointments, and managing family responsibilities, according to the report.

Women on parole also were more likely than men on parole to report living in a household with minor children. About 29% of women on parole lived in a household with at least one child under 18, compared with 19% of men on parole and 30% of women who were not on parole.

The survey, however, did not indicate whether respondents were parents, caregivers or financially responsible for the children, according to the report.

Health insurance coverage also differed among the groups. About 11% of women on parole reported being uninsured, compared with 7% of women not on parole and 20% of men on parole, according to the analysis.

The report’s authors wrote that the findings point to the need for reentry planning that goes beyond supervision requirements to address housing, health care, mental health and substance use treatment and family responsibilities. The authors could not determine whether the conditions preceded or resulted from criminal justice involvement, but the findings strongly suggest women on parole face distinct reentry challenges.

Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at awatford@stateline.org.

New estimates put the U.S. undocumented immigrant population in mid-2024 at 14.6 million to 15.8 million, a sharp increase from around 11 million in the 2010s. 

Since then the non-citizen population has likely dropped, but the number is unclear since immigrants facing hostility are reluctant to cooperate with government surveys. 

The spike in the number of people living in the United States without documentation included between 5.4 million and 6.3 million people with some protection against deportation, such as humanitarian parole or temporary protected status. 

The Migration Policy Institute, which pegged the 2024 number at 15.8 million, said in a report released Wednesday that the increase was “primarily driven by record unauthorized migrant arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border and the Biden administration’s wide use of humanitarian parole programs to reduce chaos at the border.” 

Another group, The Center for Migration Studies of New York, estimated the undocumented population at 14.6 million for 2024. Both reports said they have proprietary methods of adjusting U.S. Census Bureau data and other data to make the estimates.

In the estimate from the Center for Migration Studies, California had the largest undocumented population at 2.6 million, followed by Texas (2.3 million), Florida (1.4 million), New York (920,000), New Jersey (703,000), Illinois (583,000), Georgia (502,000), North Carolina (460,000), Washington state (367,000) and Virginia (342,000). 

Neither group had estimates from beyond 2024, though one monthly federal survey, the Current Population Survey, shows almost 3 million fewer non-citizens in June 2026 than there were in January 2025 at the start of the Trump administration. Non-citizens could be legal immigrants on visas or awaiting citizenship, as well as undocumented immigrants.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed in December that 2.5 million “illegal aliens” had left the country during the Trump administration, including through deportations and voluntary departures. 

The Center for Migration Studies in January called the DHS claim a “self-serving fantasy” based on a “flawed analysis of the Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey.” Most likely the lower numbers in the survey reflect an unwillingness by immigrants to cooperate with surveys like the Current Population Survey, the January report said. 

“Large numbers of immigrants targeted by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) are now hunkering down in fear and are unlikely to provide any information about themselves to any strangers, especially government interviewers,” the report said.

Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.