Utah is Ending Homelessness by Giving People Homes

http://www.nationofchange.org/utah-endin...1390056183

It's actually a really good, common sense idea. They realize it's more expensive to pay for incarceration and/or emergency room visits for the homeless than it is to just give them all an apartment with no strings attached. They even give them a social worker in an attempt to help them get independent, but even if the social worker isn't really able to help them, they still keep the apartment.

The other great thing? They instituted the program in 2005 and it's cut homelessness by 78% and may eliminate homelessness altogether by 2015. Wow. Eliminating homelessness was always one of those pie-in-the-sky things that I thought would never happen outside some mythological Utopian society, but Utah may be on the verge of it themselves.

Is it just me, or is it surprising to see an idea like this come out of a state as conservative as Utah?

I'm torn.

On the one hand this is a great thing for the homeless population of Utah and kudos to whomever made this happen.

On the other hand I feel like this is going to be used as yet another reason for Mormons to feel self-righteous and superior to everyone else - even if it's only to feel self-righteous and superior among themselves. "Look what our religion compelled us to do! See? SEE?!?! We really ARE the one true religion! We're so wonderful, AND we were right all a long! Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!!!"

Maybe I'm being cynical but it's hard to get the idea that this is just piling on Mormon confirmation bias out of my head.

Is everyone in Utah a mormon?

(January 23, 2014 at 9:33 am)TaraJo Wrote: Utah is Ending Homelessness by Giving People Homes

http://www.nationofchange.org/utah-endin...1390056183

It's actually a really good, common sense idea. They realize it's more expensive to pay for incarceration and/or emergency room visits for the homeless than it is to just give them all an apartment with no strings attached. They even give them a social worker in an attempt to help them get independent, but even if the social worker isn't really able to help them, they still keep the apartment.

The other great thing? They instituted the program in 2005 and it's cut homelessness by 78% and may eliminate homelessness altogether by 2015. Wow. Eliminating homelessness was always one of those pie-in-the-sky things that I thought would never happen outside some mythological Utopian society, but Utah may be on the verge of it themselves.

Is it just me, or is it surprising to see an idea like this come out of a state as conservative as Utah?

You know what a "rice Christian" is?

Quote:In 2005, Utah figured out that the annual cost of E.R. visits and jail stays for homeless people was about $16,670 per person, compared to $11,000 to provide each homeless person with an apartment and a social worker.

This seems like apples and oranges, though. Unless they have health insurance they are still going to have to go to emergency rooms in case of illness and, last I heard, Utah has still not made up its mind on Medicaid Expansion.

(January 23, 2014 at 11:35 am)StuW Wrote: Is everyone in Utah a mormon?

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home3/53909...h.html.csp

62%. It's even higher in rural areas. It's solid enough that the LDS church is THE major political power in the state. So, no, not everyone is a Mormon, but they're a solid enough majority that, politically speaking, if they want something, they get it.

And, as conservative as Utah may be, the Mormon church has been pretty good at helping the poor. My boyfriend lived in pretty extreme poverty when he was younger. His mother couldn't afford to take care of everyone and if not for assistance from the LDS church, his brothers and sisters all probably would have wound up in foster care. That isn't excusing all the bad things they do, but it's admitting that they still do some good things.

It's a common sense solution and I admire whoever conceived it and carried it out.

Maybe they will inspire my state to do something similar instead of continuing the series of embarassing incidents that has been our response to homelessness so far.

(January 23, 2014 at 11:55 am)Minimalist Wrote:

Quote:In 2005, Utah figured out that the annual cost of E.R. visits and jail stays for homeless people was about $16,670 per person, compared to $11,000 to provide each homeless person with an apartment and a social worker.

This seems like apples and oranges, though. Unless they have health insurance they are still going to have to go to emergency rooms in case of illness and, last I heard, Utah has still not made up its mind on Medicaid Expansion.

Sort of. I've had to spend some time homeless and it's a lot easier to wind up in the ER living on the streets than it is in your own place. Not to mention, it's easier to get medicare and disability and everything if you have a steady address and maybe even a phone number where you can be reached.

As for incarceration, if you're homeless, it can be easy to get desperate enough to resort to criminal activities to take care of yourself. I mean, if things go bad, there's a chance of being put in prison where at least you have a roof over your head and three meals a day. That can be a big step up.

Maybe we can get the Christians who don't consider the Mormons Christians into a competition with them. Hey, Christians, are you going to let a bunch of MORMONS do a better job of helpling the homeless than YOU!?

(January 23, 2014 at 11:55 am)Minimalist Wrote:

Quote:In 2005, Utah figured out that the annual cost of E.R. visits and jail stays for homeless people was about $16,670 per person, compared to $11,000 to provide each homeless person with an apartment and a social worker.

This seems like apples and oranges, though. Unless they have health insurance they are still going to have to go to emergency rooms in case of illness and, last I heard, Utah has still not made up its mind on Medicaid Expansion.

Ok, got the news today and, once again, Utah makes the right move. They're expanding it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23..._hp_ref=tw

Damn. This is pretty damn cool.