Advocates Warn Remote Location Will Isolate People from Jobs, Transit, and Services, Undermining Their Path to Stable Housing
Utah lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to create a large campus outside of Salt Lake City to house and provide services for people who are homeless, an idea that local advocates say is “doomed to fail.”
The facility is intended to provide about 1,300 beds that are “designed to complement the existing homeless resource centers, shelters, and service providers” across the state, according to the project’s official website. It will sit on nearly 16 acres of land outside the Salt Lake City International Airport, and is about a two-hour transit ride from downtown Salt Lake City.
While final plans for the campus are still being worked out, officials have announced some plans that have startled advocates. For instance, the campus could include an “accountability center” where people assigned to that center are not allowed to leave voluntarily. Other aspects, like the “secure residential placement facility”, have some advocates concerned that officials are simply creating a jail for homeless people…