The sun rose over the courthouse to the east of Churchill Square, where Randy Hetchler paced back and forth.

"I arrived in the city at 6 a.m." he said. "I had nowhere to go. Nothing was open. I didn't walk too far because shoes sucked and had no laces, again."

It's been a similar story almost every time Hetchler, whose criminal record consists of theft- and drug-related misdemeanour charges, has been released from jail or the remand centre outside Edmonton.

Late at night or early in the morning, a cramped van drops him off downtown at a time when not even homeless shelters are doing intake.

It's an abrupt release back into society, one that highlights the lack of protocols to keep people like Hetchler from falling back into the criminal justice system. The result: a haphazard operation that can come at a cost to Canadians' safety — and their wallets.

To keep people locked up without cause is unconstitutional. But the alternative, the system Hetchler faces, also troubles Chris Hay, executive director of the Alberta chapter of the John Howard Society, a nationwide prison-reform group.

"No one should be held in jail longer than they've been sentenced to, simply because they're homeless," Hay said. "Conversely, if that's the case and we've got to punch you out into the streets of Edmonton and you've got nowhere to go, I don't want that either."

While jails for inmates with sentences of under two years do some discharge planning, remand centres, where the average stay is less than a month, do even less.

As the 24/7 outreach manager at Boyle Street Community Services, Sindi Addorisio sees the fallout almost every day.

"It's just a cycle: incarceration, homelessness, incarceration, homelessness," Addorisio said.

Extensive research suggests that rehabilitation and reintegration programming reduces the risk of re-offending, and consequently, the threat to public safety. Long-term, that will lessen the burden on taxpayers, who foot the bill to put people back behind bars.

'Navigator' program coming

When former inmates are released from institutions late at night or early in the morning, they are allowed to wait there for a ride into the city during the day, said Alberta Justice and Solicitor General spokesperson Louise McEachern in an email.

But that's just one part of a larger problem, which the Alberta government and the local John Howard Society say they will try to address.

Before the end of the year, a pilot program called "Navigator" should launch in Edmonton to reduce the number of people released into homelessness, particularly from the remand centre.

"With most inmates released by the courts with little or no notice, extensive release planning is typically not feasible," McEachern said.

If you don't have a person go to remand at all, you don't have a person who gets on a bus and gets dropped off in Edmonton. - Chris Hay, executive director, John Howard Society of Alberta

"Navigator" will station a support worker at police headquarters and another support worker at the remand centre to try to "re-route people before they even go to remand," Hay said. "If you don't have a person go to remand at all, you don't have a person who gets on a bus and gets dropped off in Edmonton."

Former inmates at the jail and the remand centre outside of Edmonton say they're transported downtown at all hours and dropped near Churchill Square, where they've ended up roaming aimlessly. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)

The support workers will help people who have been taken into custody connect with family and friends who can help them secure bail and find a place to stay.

"Will we solve the problem in the next year or so? No, not at all," said Hay. "There's still going to be people who slip through the cracks — and there's going to be a lot of people who slip through the cracks — but we are working toward it, though, pretty steadily."

After three months, "Navigator" will be reviewed. Then, Hay said, there's hope it can be expanded throughout all eight John Howard Societies in the province.

'He knew he had a home, he just didn't know how to get there'

A program like "Navigator" probably could have helped one elderly man with dementia who recently ended up on the sidewalk in front of the Hope Mission, despite the fact he had home.

The 71-year-old was taken into custody after urinating in public while children were around, said Terry Zawalski, who runs housing placement at Operation Friendship Seniors Society, where the man lives.

The man spent two months in the remand centre, constantly mixing up the details of his bail, Zawalski said.

She thought he was still there, since she was still trying to work with a lawyer on his case, when she spotted him at the shelter. He was wearing his house key around his neck.

"There he is, just sitting there, unable to come home," Zawalski said. "He knew he had a home, he just didn't know how to get there."

She has no details about the man's release. She has no idea how he ended up at Hope Mission.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE 2014 EDMONTON HOMELESS COUNT: 2,307 people identified as homeless

47 per cent of the homeless population was observed to be Indigenous

At least 335 children under 18 years old were homeless, a 20 per cent increase from the 2012 count (Source: Homeward Trust Edmonton)

There are different estimates on the number of people who are actually homeless after spending time behind bars.

A report by the John Howard Society in 2010 cites research that found about 30 per cent of people who do time in Canada are in that situation.

Robin Padanyi sees that reality at Hope Mission.

People flood the dining area during lunchtime at Hope Mission. (David Bates/CBC)

"A lot of our guests, when they're released from corrections facilities, they've lost a lot of their family connections, they've lost a lot of their previous support network," said Padanyi, a spokeswoman for Hope Mission.

Currently, Hope Mission has little communication with the remand centre, said Padanyi. The organization's interaction with former inmates is typically limited to when they show up on its doorstep.

With "Navigator," that's supposed to change.

McEachern, from Alberta Justice, said the support workers at police headquarters and at the remand centre will also "facilitate access to community supports and services" and "help address concerns related to accessing information."

Foresight needed for planning

Chris Beausoleil works with high-risk Indigenous youth at Boyle Street Community Services. His job would be easier, he said, if the remand centre contacted him when a youth he has worked with is being held. He would then be able to set up appointments for social assistance, housing and addictions treatment, if needed.

It's difficult to tell a youth or a client that everything's going to be OK when they're released in the evening and no one's there. - Chris Beausoleil, Indigenous youth worker, Boyle Street Community Services

"When they're just released out of nowhere, it's hard to get all these appointments set up in time so that they're not reincarcerated again," Beausoleil said. "It's difficult to tell a youth or a client that everything's going to be OK when they're released in the evening and no one's there."

He tries to pick up young people if he has enough notice.

But that's often not the case.

When Nicholas Burdeyni, 23, learned he was being released from the remand centre earlier this summer, it was four o'clock in the morning.

"I was sleeping," he said. "They intercommed me, stating that I got bail, or someone paid my bail. I got released. And then, 'Pack your stuff, you're going home.'"

Nicholas Burdeyni, pictured at Boyle Street Community Services, says he found out he was being released from the remand centre earlier this summer when he was paged over the intercom at 4 a.m. (John Robertson/CBC)

Except Burdeyni, whose criminal record includes assault causing bodily harm and carrying a concealed weapon, didn't have a home to go to.

Burdeyni spent 40 days in remand. During that time, he said no one worked with him on what he planned to do when he got out.

"It seems like no one cares," he said. "I feel like giving up. Like just full-on giving up. "

He has breached probation and been "in and out" of the remand centre. He's still trying to find a place to live.

"It's getting colder, so it's not really suitable for a healthy mindset anymore," Burdeyni said. "I just don't know what the next chapter is."

'Navigator' could save province money

Federal prisons, where inmates are serving sentences longer than two years, have more opportunity to plan for release. It's more challenging in provincial jails, since the time people spend there is generally measured in months. In Alberta, 52 per cent of people in remand centres stay fewer than five days.

The John Howard Society of Alberta says it costs $172 a day to keep someone in the remand centre. Over five days, that's $860. For the average stay of 17 to 18 days, the cost balloons to $2,924 to $3,096.

Diverting people from the remand centre through the "Navigator" program, which has a budget of about $165,000 for a three-month pilot, could potentially save the province millions of dollars a year, Hay said.

The province recognizes that, said Hay, and it was actually Alberta Justice and Solicitor General that approached him about eight months ago looking for a partnership.

When I go to these meetings, I'm preaching to the choir. - Chris Hay, executive director, John Howard Society of Alberta

"When I go to these meetings, I'm preaching to the choir. Five years ago, we used to have a bit of a battle, but now it's fabulous," Hay said, adding the main gripe on both sides is there's not enough money, which wasn't always the main issue. "Past governments, the discussions weren't always about money. They were also about, 'Well, we're not sure that's the way we want to move ahead.'

"Just simple lock up does not reduce recidivism, period," Hay said. "Everyone knows it, but we can't seem to quite get there for some reason. So I would say we almost need a paradigm shift in how we're actually looking at the rehabilitation, reintegration of offenders."

roberta.bell@cbc.ca

@roberta__bell