Chronic homelessness declines in Utah, survey shows

SALT LAKE CITY — Carlton and Shareen Cue had the notion of leaving New York to come west long before they headed this way late last year.

"It still has a draw to it, like the promise of something new or better," Carlton Cue said Friday. "We came out for a job, and two months later … well, I'm laid off and we're in a homeless shelter. That doesn't sound like better, but we're making the best of it."

Two months at The Road Home was not part of the allure, the couple said as their son Tijahni dozed in his father's arms.

"That won't be for much longer," Cue said. "The plan is just delayed a bit, that's all. We'll be fine."

The couple has maintained that attitude because "we have had nothing but help from the people out here. I can't say enough about how great people have been. Once things get settled, I'm going to do everything I can to help people who find themselves in this situation and pay these folks back a little."

The Cues have more than a positive attitude on their side, and can pretty much count on not being a family disrupted much longer, according to the latest, most accurate annual homeless count.

Numbers taken from a single-night snapshot survey conducted in January by the state Division of Housing and Community Development, released Friday by Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, show that while there has been only a slight increase in the total number of homeless people in Utah (15,642), the number of chronically homeless — those who have been without a permanent residence for at least year or have been homeless multiple times the past five years — is down 42 percent. The snapshot on that January night showed the number at 812 people compared to 1,400 in 2009.

The main reason for the biggest single-year reduction since the state got serious about reducing homelessness in 2004 is the nearly 400 housing units that came on line the past three years, said Bell, who is also chairman of the state Homeless Coordinating Committee

That is also why families like the Cues aren't stuck in limbo or without a place to go for as long as they used to be, he said. The state's Housing First Initiative, which provides a home base of sorts for chronically homeless people and starts addressing the problems that contribute to their situation, has proven invaluable to the effort, Bell said.

"Housing our chronically homeless population with permanent supportive housing and case management is significantly lessening the burden on our emergency shelter system, allowing them to serve those who need services for a temporary amount of time," he said.