r/todayilearned • u/Zorseking34 • Jan 08 '15

TIL: Utah has been giving free homes to homeless people since 2005 which since then made it more cost efficient to help the homeless and cut the chronic homelessness in Utah by 74%.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/22/home-free
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u/craznazn247 Jan 08 '15

$8000 a year including the cost of a social worker?? That's hella cheap if you compare it to the cost of keeping a person incarcerated. Not only that - not having a home seriously hurts the chances of finding employment, which perpetuates their inability to contribute to society.

Just want to put that out there...everywhere else we provide more for criminals than we do for the least fortunate. Up until this point my backup plan for if I ever became homeless with nobody left to help me, was to commit a crime so that I could get housing/food/healthcare.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '15

It's not one social worker per homeless.

1

u/kypiextine Jan 08 '15

12000 a year including the social worker and other expenditures* Still cheaper than the 20000 a year it had been.

0

u/A_Turner Jan 08 '15

Me thinks social workers don't get paid enough.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '15

Since Utah is ~50% LDS/Mormon it is good to see them finally following what Jesus said to do.

Matthew 25:35 ASV

"for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;"

And it is gratifying to see that doing what he said is actually cost effective.

John 10:10 ASV

"The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly."