I can speak on this a bit.

When I was homeless, I knew several people that served their time or were on parole. In jail or prison, if you had special dietary needs, they would be accommodated. So if you’re diabetic, you’d get a special diet. (I’m not sure how suitable or how far these accommodations would go, but there was at least an effort.)

In the shelter? You get what everyone else gets. Are you allergic to something served? Will the food make you sick? Are you pregnant and need a little more? Too bad. They even threw away food after serving the meals, people asking for seconds be damned.

We also had a free clinic. However, it primarily served people that didn’t live at the shelter. You weren’t allowed to see the doctor if you lived in the shelter. (And the staff was condescending as hell when I asked… Yeesh.) The staff was incredibly friendly to the people being served by the clinic, and frequently was rude or would scream at us residents.

It wasn’t all bad because we got beds and running water. But there was the constant worry of being kicked out. You never knew when they would enforce a new rule they didn’t notify you of, or when they would try to page you and you don’t answer (because you’re at your job and not sitting there all day).

I knew a lot of women that would say that they missed prison. (They said prison was better than jail, but some even missed jail too.) You didn’t have to worry about starving. You could access a library. You might get access to an education. You could get medical care. It’s not all roses by any stretch, but they said it was better.

It might be different for the men, since living conditions for the men might be different, but I have a suspicion that it is not.