- Utah reallocates $885,000 from unspent winter shelter funds to Project Bridge.
- Project Bridge aims to cover shelter overflow until new contracts start in July.
- High utilizers, a small but costly group, are a focus for Utah's homeless services.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's new homeless services initiative will have a bit more funding to work with after the state recorded its warmest winter on record, leaving some winter shelter money unspent.
Utah's Homeless Services Board voted Tuesday to reallocate about $885,000 to help Project Bridge, a program meant to cover funding for shelter overflow beds until new contracts kick in in July. The project officially launched on April 30 when the old contracts expired.
"This is kind of a one-off opportunity," Tyler Clancy, the state's new homeless coordinator, said of the reallocation of funds during a board meeting Tuesday.
The funds will come from contracts with the Road Home and Fourth Street Clinic for winter shelter that were not spent, Clancy said. The extra money, along with $1.2 million to be spent from the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund, will help fund the cost of Project Bridge.
"This will be where the funding will be dispersed in order to keep these beds online," Clancy said. "This is what we present to you during the last board meeting of what we're trying to keep afloat, and we were thrilled to be able to bring to you a proposal today, building with our community partners and even using some unspent funds to make this happen."
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who serves on the Homeless Services Board as the mayor of Utah's capital, said she had hoped lawmakers would pass a solution to fund shelter beds through July but praised Clancy's initiative to fill the gaps.
"It requires a little bit of flexibility, or a lot of flexibility, for all of the partners involved to make this happen for the two months that it oversees," she said. "And I just want to express my commitment to continuing to partner to make these kind of critical things happen, whether they're short-term or long-term solutions."
Focus on 'high utilizers'
The board was also briefed on the impact of "high utilizers" on the criminal justice and homeless services systems. The term describes a small number of people who have repeat interactions with law enforcement, shelters or emergency medical services.
High utilizers make up a significant portion of the costs, according to the Department of Workforce Services, and are considered some of the most vulnerable Utahns.
Many of them are "trapped in a cycle," according to Nate Meinzer, assistant director of external operations at the Office of Homeless Services. Meinzer presented a report focusing on about 1,000 individuals in Salt Lake City who make up the high utilizers category. Together, they account for more than $51 million in annual costs.
More than three-quarters of those individuals are experiencing homelessness, according to the report.
But even among the group of high utilizers, 25% of individuals account for half of the arrests within the group.
Shelby Lofton, KSL"They need a different approach," Meinzer told KSL. "And that one approach doesn't work for everybody. So focusing in different areas and being intentional is really trying to kind of pick that compassion piece and say, 'I see this window here, and here's how I think we might be able to help you.'"
Identifying solutions to high utilizers in the criminal justice system was one of three areas of focus highlighted by Gov. Spencer Cox, and Meinzer's report will help state leaders work on solutions to homelessness in Utah.
"We're trying to be very intentional on serving and trying to do it in a way that works for each individual, and seeing that person for who they are as a total, instead of seeing them just as a statistic or a number," Meinzer said.
Contributing: Shelby Lofton
