New Research Suggests the Proposed ‘Accountability’ Model Falls Short of Addressing Homelessness While Raising Legal Concerns
The massive campus that has been proposed in Utah likely won’t be able to address a key issue that state lawmakers claim is making homelessness worse, according to a new report.
Last year, Utah Republicans proposed building a 1,300-bed homelessness campus on 16 acres of land just outside of Salt Lake City. The campus includes more than 700 emergency shelter beds, wrap-around services and case management, and at least 300 beds for civil commitment. Utah lawmakers estimate it will cost about $75 million to build the campus and another $35 million per year to operate it.
The lawmakers have also argued that the campus is necessary to bring more “accountability” to Utah’s homeless services landscape. They claim that existing services do not hold people experiencing homelessness accountable and point to the recent rise in chronic homelessness across the Beehive State as evidence…