SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Salt Lake County is taking major steps in its goal to tackle homelessness, with Mayor Jenny Wilson unveiling a $42 million plan to help achieve the goal in five years.
"I'm excited. I'm excited because for thirty years we've been doing it the same way and I'm frankly tired and I want us to do something different," said District Attorney Sim Gill.
Gill used words such as “fundamentally different” and “transformational” to describe the plan.
The plan focuses on three main areas: housing, law enforcement and criminal justice reform, and systemic gaps in need of support. Wilson said the goal is to make homelessness brief, rare and non-recurring, while ensuring accountability in communities.
At the same time, the county wants to make sure no one is criminalizing acts related to homelessness.
"We want the public to know that Salt Lake County is taking action on a very challenging situation that’s causing disruption for our community and is heartbreaking for those living without shelter," said Wilson.
Officials estimate that 1,000 people are experiencing homelessness in the county. In the next five years, they plan to bring in an additional 1,000 affordable housing units.
"We can actually solve this problem and make homelessness a moment in time instead of a lifestyle," said councilmember Laurie Stringham.
There will also be enhanced crisis intervention training for law enforcement, 10 more officers added to the Drug Enforcement Agency Task Force, as well as the construction of a Justice and Accountability Center and a 100-bed step-down facility, which would be an expansion to the jail for people with behavioral health issues.
"What we're doing at our facility currently is housing a lot of individuals that there are better places for them," said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
Set to open next year, Wilson called the Huntsman Mental Health Institute Campus of Hope a “gamechanger.” Too often, Wilson added, mental health is left to the responsibility of law enforcement, and the hope is the new facility and those like it will relieve the criminal justice system and the overburdened jail.
"It's not compassionate to only have a jail or an ER as a place for people to get mental health help. This is about real solutions," said councilmember Aimee Winder Newton.
