Utah launches pioneering correctional program to house homeless repeat offenders
Utah's Department of Corrections opened the ARCH Project, a new facility offering six-to-eight months of housing and intensive case management for homeless individuals with multiple low-level convictions.
At a ceremony in Salt Lake City, Utah’s Department of Corrections inaugurated the ARCH Project, the nation’s first correction-run program aimed at homeless repeat offenders with five or more low-level convictions. Housed in the refurbished Orange Street Community Correctional Center, the project can accommodate up to 180 residents for six to eight months, with intensive case management that may continue for three years.
Participants, who are eligible for the program in about 1,300 cases statewide, receive assistance with vital documents, employment connections, and behavioral counseling. Utah judges may order enrollment as part of probation, and the initiative was enabled by HB110, which allocated $2.6 million for facility upgrades and $6 million for ongoing services. Approximately 50 new staff members have been hired to deliver the comprehensive support. The program reflects Utah’s largest effort to break the cycle of jail, shelters, emergency rooms and rehabilitation centers for chronically homeless offenders.
Why it matters
It provides an alternative to incarceration for homeless repeat offenders, aiming to break cycles of jail and shelter dependence.
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