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WEST VALLEY CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is asking lawmakers for more than $193 million to address homelessness and mental health, which he said will help fill "significant gaps in the system" that cause too many people to fall through.
The governor announced the request as part of his proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, the rest of which will be released Tuesday. He spoke Monday at the Atherton Community Correctional Center in West Valley City, highlighting his request for $128 million for emergency shelter space, $30 million for deeply affordable housing, $10.6 million for an alternative to the criminal justice system that would direct individuals to treatment, $10 million for housing preservation and $8 million to bolster the state's behavioral health workforce.
Another $7 million would go homelessness prevention in general.
"For all the good that is being done, there are still significant gaps in the system, and too many people are falling through those gaps," Cox said. "Too often, those who have serious mental illness or addictions are ending up in jail for a night and then released right back onto the street instead of getting the help that they need."
He added, "We can and we must do better."
Cox also announced what he called a "historic" agreement between state and local leaders to address homelessness as a statewide issue.
The recommendations will need to be approved by the Utah Legislature during its upcoming general session, which begins in January.
"There's great interest in this work," Cox said when asked if he's spoken with legislators about his proposal. "I don't know if ... they'll want to adopt every single part of the proposal, but I think we'll get most of it done, and they know this is a top priority for them as well."
Emergency shelters
Cox's proposal includes funds to address homelessness at several levels by trying to house people in the first place, and by providing treatment and services to help people get back on their feet.
But the "immediate crisis" in Utah is chronic, existing homelessness because "there simply aren't enough beds in the current emergency shelter system," the governor said. While the state grapples with long-term solutions, Cox said the $128 million he requested for emergency shelter space would help stabilize the current system and ensure there is shelter for those who need it.
He joined state and local leaders last month in announcing a plan to crack down on unsanctioned campsites when there is shelter space available, and reiterated Monday his belief that "we have to end unsanctioned camping in this state. It cannot be allowed to happen."
Cox said he has personally seen people being attacked in public places and said there's "too much lawlessness on our streets."
"We've seen too many other great cities in this country that have fallen prey to this pernicious result where people are suffering indignantly on the streets and citizens do not feel safe going onto those same streets," he said.
Utah's need for mental health care
Cox said the state also needs to do more to address mental health issues, which is a distinct concern among those experiencing chronic homelessness. He said the state needs about 8,000 additional behavioral health care workers to meet the current demand.
The $8 million he requested for mental health care includes $3.3 million for paid internships, student loan forgiveness and training incentives; $2.9 million in ongoing funding for rural receiving centers and two additional mobile crisis teams, as well as money to fund a pilot project to increase behavioral health licensing opportunities.
He said he would like to see Utah meet its need for mental health professionals "as quickly as possible" but acknowledged that current licensing requirements are making it difficult.
Unlike the medical field — where high school graduates can begin training to work as emergency medical responders — the field of psychology is limited to those with graduate degrees.
"We're doing it all wrong," Cox said. "This is a major flaw in licensure in our state. If you look at the medical profession ... at every phase, there is something that you can do in that field. That is not true in psychology and psychiatry. We think that's a mistake."
He said he believes "there's a workforce out there, we're just not allowing them to do the work," saying he wants the Legislature to consider revamping the way the state issues licenses to practice in the mental health field. Cox didn't offer a specific proposal for changes and noted that those with less training wouldn't be able to do as much as those with higher levels of education.
The governor said licensure changes are a "top priority" and issued a word of warning to trade associations if they oppose the changes "for protectionist reasons."
"It's going to be a very bad day for you," he said. "So, you can be part of the solution or you can be part of the problem. ... This is about tens of thousands of Utahns who can't get treatment right now because it takes five months to get into a psychologist or a psychiatrist. ... This is unacceptable."
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly stated the amount of funding requested by the governor for homelessness as $186 million instead of $193 million.
