Tuesday 28 January 2014

Ending homelessness


Utah Is Ending Homelessness by Giving People Homes


January 22nd, 2014



In eight years, Utah has quietly reduced homelessness by 78 percent, and is on track to end homelessness by 2015.

How did Utah accomplish this? Simple. Utah solved homelessness by giving people homes. In 2005, Utah figured out that the annual cost of E.R. visits and jail says for homeless people was about $16,670 per person, compared to $11,000 to provide each homeless person with an apartment and a social worker. So, the state began giving away apartments, with no strings attached. Each participant in Utah’s Housing First program also gets a caseworker to help them become self-sufficient, but the keep the apartment even if they fail.

The program has been so successful that other states are hoping to achieve similar results with programs modeled on Utah’s.

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