So, Utah decided to just give the homeless places to live. The results are what anyone with sense, or who has followed the topic would expect:
Utah’s Housing First program cost between $10,000 and $12,000 per person, about half of the $20,000 it cost to treat and care for homeless people on the street.
Imagine that.
This is a reprint from 2015, but I think it makes an important point […]
https://www.ianwelsh.net/the-right-thing-to-do-homeless-edition-2/@ianwelsh.net
Ian, you've gotta update your data.
#UTpol went MAGA when the GOP did, and the legislature decided to punish the poor and homeless at every opportunity instead of help them. We've flushed millions away breaking up homeless camps and traumatizing and robbing homeless people then demanding they just stop being poor.
We used to have a big homeless center downtown. Developers envied the space, so we tore it down and built 4 smaller sites with fewer total beds. People died outside in the cold and heat. Now, the legislature want to build a new big homeless jail out by the state jail, away from service providers. It's just their need to control and punish.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/01/22/homelessness-utah-how-service/
