AIBU not to allow DH's homeless friend to stay over on this rainy night

[TheRobberBride123]

DH has a friend from his school days who has taken a few wrong turns and is addicted to heroin, homeless and in and out of prison. DH has spent considerable time and money helping this friend previously and he was clean and doing well for a while, but it went to pot when the pandemic hit.

Friend has just got out of prison and DH wants him to stay here tonight, as he's apparently clean and it's raining. DH is making me feel like a terrible person for saying no. We have two kids under 3 and I won't feel safe with him in the house. Friend has previously turned up outside pur house at midnight screaming for money, once put his foot in the door when I answered, and if I'm honest I really don't like him.

SIL is currently staying with us because she has dropped out of uni due to her mental health, and we have previously had another of DH's friends stay for several months as he had to get out of a bad situation. I do try to help people. Am I an awful person?

No you must put your children's safety first. Tell DH to get friend a place in a hostel or homeless shelter. Ring council.

The point is the professionals involved in the justice system have the duty of care, not the OP and her family.
Many services are failing, this doesn't mean Joe public should pick up the slack.
My mum thought she could rescue a family member from Heroin addiction and moved her into our house. This person stole from us, lied and manipulated and put us all in dangerous positions with dealers and her 'equipment'.
As much as I might feel sorry for a person, I would never put my family in this position and I would refer them to the local authority for support.

@Mollymoostoo that’s not quite true. If someone leaves prison at their sentence expiry date (ie, not on licence) there is no duty of care or supervision whatsoever. On top of that, the Justice system have no priority access to housing.

[quote Emotionalfuckwit]@ChristmasFluff this is absolute nonsense. I can only assume you are not in England as there is no such thing as Parole Officers in this country - we are Probation Officers. It is completely wrong that every heroin is offered a hostel place - so wrong it's laughable. In particular those who have a significant drug abuse history have less chance of securing even temporary accommodation.

I know this because I have worked with persistent drug users for the past 16 years of my career - I haven't read it on the Internet or in the daily mail, it is my daily working life. Please stop sharing untruths as fact[/quote]
I second this. I have worked with people just released from prison, suffering horrific methadone withdrawal symptoms, with nowhere to go, carting their few belongings around in a plastic bag trying to find a hostel that will take them for the night. And we wonder why recidivism is so high!

This is the frustration though - that many don’t understand the truth of the situation.

If you had a spare garage locked separate from the house I'd give him food/drink and a bucket and leave him be. Better than the street. Not having drugs in my house.