After a ten-year-long effort, Utah could soon see the end of statewide chronic homelessness. According to the state Division of Workforce Services, the number of chronically homeless Utahns declined 91 percent in the last 10 years. In 2005, the number of long-term homeless was nearly 2,000 people; now, it is 178.
The state is fast approaching a condition officials call a ‘functional zero’ in terms of chronic homelessness. Lloyd Pendleton, Homeless Task Force Director with the DWS, said that this means Utah has the resources to help those most in need.
“There’s the resources but there are many that are housing-resistant,” Pendleton said. “Chronic homelessness is an unaccompanied adult with a disabling condition, [who’s] been homeless a year or more or four times in three years.”
A large part of Utah’s success in helping the chronically homeless off the streets relies on the Housing First model. According to Pendleton, this approach gives the homeless the stability they need to deal with other personal difficulties.
“The model is, you take a drug-addicted, alcohol-addicted, disabled person right off the street and they don’t have to be housing-ready. In the old model, you had to be housing-ready,” he said. “You had to be clean, dry, and sober before you could get housing. Once they have a place that’s stable and safe, then they can more effectively deal with their addictions.”
While a homeless person relying on shelters and soup kitchens will cost society around $19,000, the Housing First program costs only $7,800 per person.
