An approach to providing housing for homeless Utahns and then addressing the problems causing homelessness appears to be the fresh start many need, and a big break for taxpayers is in the offing as well.

The course of the lives of 39 chronically homeless males over a five-year period that sent them through the turnstiles of the courts and emergency medical-service providers multiple times racked up a cost to taxpayers of $2.6 million, according to the state Division of Housing and Community Development. The division researched the activity and costs of the 39 most-arrested homeless men between 2002 and 2006.

The men spent 15,000 nights in the Salt Lake County jail, or 3,000 jail nights a year. They also logged an average of 837 arrests per year, 433 bookings and 155 ambulance calls.

But the number of public safety interactions diminished markedly for eight of the 39 men who were able to move into permanent housing as part of an ambitious state and federal government program to end homelessness by 2014.

After being provided housing, the eight men showed a 65 percent average drop in bookings and a 55 percent reduction in jail time. If the data is extrapolated to all 39, the $2.6 million cost drops to $420,000.

"The numbers are startling, but they only reinforce what we have known about housing," said the division's director, Gordon D. Walker. "Housing improves lives by giving people a fresh start from which to begin to work on other problems, help with finding a job and re-connect with family and society."

The approach appears to be working and is endorsed by law enforcement and the judicial system.

"We can't arrest our way out of social problems like homelessness and drug addiction, which often go hand in hand," said Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. "Police too often become an agent of marginalizing people who are different, are dirty and an annoyance to our daily lives. Housing is more humane and more cost-efficient than the alternative — the most expensive remedy that really isn't a remedy."

Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill said the traditional approach of arrest, book, jail, release and rearrest is "just adding fuel to the fire, and these are real costs all of us are picking up."

Gill said judges have been know to maximize jail time for convictions of homeless people at this time of year because the judges are trying to get them through the winter in a humanitarian way to provide shelter until spring.

"We cannot afford to this, and dollar for dollar, we are picking up the tab," Gill said. "This is the first proactive response that is succeeding, rather than just throwing our hands up in frustration."

The results are a reminder that homelessness isn't a problem on paper, Gill said, it's both monetary and grim reality. Seven of the 39 men in the study have died.

The announcement of the data comes in conjunction with Utah's 5th Statewide Homeless Summit that begins today. The numbers will be a starting point for the summit, Walker said.

"The scope of homelessness is bigger than impacts to our jail system," he said. "Every homeless man or woman has a different story and charts a unique path to recovery and self-sufficiency. But housing is clearly the solution, and we need more of it to reach our goal."

---

E-MAIL: jthalman@desnews.com