Utah is winning the war on chronic homelessness with 'Housing First' program
Terry Birch recalls walking cautiously into the tiny one-bedroom apartment seven months ago, like a cat exploring a box, or something wild fearful of a trap.
After two decades on the streets, he finally had a real roof over his head, a home to call his own. It was clean, private and safe, but also scary and confusing.
"I couldn't get used to the four walls. It felt like they were closing in on me," he said, sitting in the living room of unit No. 2 at the
Metro Apartments. "On the streets, I had no responsibility, other than keeping myself clean."
He paused, surveying his surroundings: "And then this."
This is "Housing First," a novel effort by Utah to attack an intractable social ill. The state provides apartments to the chronically homeless and worries about addressing the underlying causes, such as drug abuse, later. By allowing bodies to rest and heal, housing officials say, emotional health will probably follow.
Last month, officials announced that they had reduced by 91% the ranks of the chronically homeless — defined as someone who has spent at least one year full-time on the streets — and are now approaching "functional zero."
More
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-utah-housing-first-20150524-story.html