This graphic illustrates Fiscal Year 2025 budget recommendations planned by Gov. Spencer Cox as part of a statewide initiative to address homelessness.
WEST VALLEY CITY – One day prior to the release of his budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2025, Gov. Spencer Cox has announced an historic agreement with local governments to address homelessness statewide.
The governor’s staff members say that the new homelessness initiative will be supported by more than $186 million in proposed spending that will be included in Cox’s budget priorities slated for release on Dec. 5.
“After months of analyzing our collective response to homeless services, we’re doing many things well,” Cox said in his Dec. 4 announcement here at the Atherton Community Treatment Center. “But we’ve also found gaps in the system.
“Our budget priorities will address these gaps.”
The budget recommendations that will be released on Dec. 5 include “transformational investments” to support a comprehensive statewide approach to alleviate homelessness, according to the staff of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
Alleviating homelessness requires a holistic approach that addresses both short-term needs and incorporates long-term strategies, they say.
The three areas of focus for Cox’s budget recommendations are stabilizing emergency shelters, expanding behavioral health care and prioritizing prevention.
There aren’t enough beds in the current emergency shelter system, according to Cox, and most shelters are near full every night.
To address that problem, Cox will recommend $128 million to stabilize the current emergency shelter system and provide support for additional shelter options.
Investments in homeless prevention and resources to better connect individuals with mental health and substance abuse treatments will also be recommended.
Included in the governor’s budget priorities will be a $10 million one-time investment and $641,000 in ongoing funds to launch a “home court” – an alternative to the criminal justice system that diverts people to treatment services.
To address gaps in Utah’s behavioral health workforce, Cox will recommend another $8 million to provide opportunities for paid internships, loan forgiveness and incentives for training in the behavioral health field; an additional rural receiving center; and two additional mobile crisis teams.
Cox’s recommendations will also include $10 million for housing preservation and $30 to fund deeply affordable housing.
“I’m grateful for the collaboration between state and local officials as well as civic leaders to join together and find solutions that will improve the lives of our unsheltered individuals and families,” Cox concluded.
Cox’s full FY25 budget recommendations will be released at a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City.