Utah’s Plan to Address Homelessness

Guiding Principle One The State respects the reality that those experiencing homelessness face complicated challenges. We support investments in activities that serve individuals and mitigate near-term needs and promote longterm results. Utah will prioritize positive outcomes and meaningful improvements in individuals’ lives. To do this, the State will resolutely: 1. Prioritize evidence-based practices as it identifies programs to fund, spotlight, and scale; 2.Commit to accountable processes for monitoring, evaluation, and recalibration in these efforts; and 3.Proactively share insights and results from these efforts such that each Local Homeless Council can be data-driven and outcome-focused as it adopts and adapts programs proven to maximize results. Guiding Principle Two Research and experience confirm that there are meaningful subpopulations among those who experience homelessness. There are consequential differences between these groups in terms of what causes or prolongs the situation, how frequently they experience homelessness, and what interventions and pathways will make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring. Therefore, to ensure programs and services efficiently and effectively address the needs of each individual, the State is committed to: 1. Funding for early-stage assessments to diagnose root challenges and ongoing case management to ensure appropriate care is based on the individual’s needs; and 2.Prioritizing funding for evidence-based practices that treat root challenges for identifiable subpopulations to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach in caring for those experiencing homelessness.

Overview of Strategic Plan and Outcomes Homelessness affects everyone. This includes people experiencing homelessness, people who are unstably housed, their housed neighbors, local businesses, first responders, hospital systems, community leaders and organizations, and other stakeholders. The purpose of a statewide strategic plan is to define effective goals and strategies to address homelessness at the state level that also support local partners in preventing and ending homelessness. The Utah Homelessness Council, supported by the Office of Homeless Services and stakeholders across the state, has performed an extensive needs assessment to identify what resources and interventions are needed to effectively address homelessness. Based on the needs assessment findings, state level target outcomes were identified to reduce and prevent homelessness in Utah, and goals and strategies have been identified to achieve these target outcomes, as detailed below. A sustainable and robust funding plan to move toward these target outcomes will be developed during implementation. The state further acknowledges the unique challenges of communities across the state to address homelessness and will continually seek to provide support and guidance to help localities address these challenges and achieve target outcomes to reduce homelessness in Utah. GOALS AND STRATEGIES In order to achieve these targets, the following goals and strategies are recommended for implementation. Success or progress towards these goals will be assessed using the measurable outcomes detailed below. For additional information on each goal, including recommended next steps to take for each strategy and nationally recognized innovative solutions to addressing homelessness, see Strategic Plan Implementation Recommendations. TARGET OUTCOMES BY 20271 Based on the needs assessment as described in detail below, several target outcomes have been identified to address the key issues of a lack of permanent housing (especially for vulnerable subpopulations with high service needs), supportive/recovery services, and homeless prevention. Create or identify 574 housing opportunities for people experiencing homelessness Increase supportive service interactions by 20% Reduce number of people becoming homeless each year by 20% Reduction of vulnerable subpopulations of chronically homeless, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, youth, and people with disabilities by 7%

DMU Timestamp: February 26, 2025 22:37