The story of how Utah solved its chronic homelessness begins in 2003, inside a Las Vegas banquet room.
At the time, the problem seemed intractable. The number of chronic homeless nationwide had soared over the previous 30 years.
That’s until Sam Tsemberis, a social researcher, delivered a simple idea to end the problem: Give homes to the homeless.
That speech spawned what is perhaps the nation’s most successful program to end chronic homelessness: Utah’s “Housing First” initiative.
Nic Dunn, a spokesperson for Utah's Department of Workforce Services, told KNPR's State of Nevada that the state has seen a 91 percent drop in chronic homelessness since launching the program 10 years ago.
Chronic homelessness, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, means someone has been without a home for a year or more, or had four episodes of homelessness in three years that add up to a year, and he or she must have some kind of disability.
Dunn said the idea is simple, provide a home before trying to fix some of the challenges people living on the street have like substance abuse or mental illness.
“The idea is that by simply providing them this option it gives a platform for them to improve their lives,” Dunn explained.
Under the Utah model, caseworkers work closely with individuals to make sure their needs are being met.
While it sounds like an expensive effort, Dunn said it is actually saving the state money.
He said, on average, the state spent $20,000 per chronically homeless person before the program on things like emergency room visits and law enforcement efforts. Now, it is down to $12,000.
Clark County has a similar problem but the biggest challenge is having enough money to pay for housing, according to Tim Burch the director of the county's Social Services Department.
“It really is for us not a capacity issue, by way of housing units, it really is making sure we have enough resources,” he said.
Unlike in Utah where permanent supportive housing is centralized, housing for the chronically homeless is spread through out the valley. The people in need are given vouchers by the county to be used for places they rent themselves.
He agrees that governments actually save money by providing houses. He points out that public money is already going into police, jails and hospitals, "it is really about redirecting that."
Matthew Doherty, the executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, said more and more cities around the country are turning to a 'housing first' model.
“We know that these permanent supportive housing and these housing first practices really are proven in creating these kinds of success,” Doherty said.
He said the public often feels that putting people in houses before they've dealt with some of their problems is counter intuitive, but to him, it makes perfect sense.
“There is nothing counter intuitive to me," Doherty said, "It seems intuitive that when people are experiencing homelessness the first thing we need to prioritize how do we get them back into housing.”
(Editor's note this story originally ran in June 2015)
Nic Dunn, spokesman, Utah's Department of Workforce Services; Tim Burch, director, Clark County Social Service Department; Matthew Doherty, executive director, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness