Social Work
146 Mobility Consequences of Decentralizing Homeless Services and Shelters in Salt Lake County
Morrison Donovan and Sarah L. Canham (Social Work)
Faculty Mentor: Sarah L. Canham (Social Work, University of Utah)
Abstract
How homeless services, including emergency shelters, are delivered and where they are sited have significant implications for people experiencing homelessness (PEH). Being able to access necessary services is important to PEH health, well-being, and autonomy. Using Salt Lake County, Utah, which moved from a centralized homeless shelter model to a decentralized resource center model as a case study, we investigated the impact of this transition on the mobility of PEH. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 19 clients of three resource centers who had also previously stayed at the former shelter. Thematic analysis resulted in four broad categories, each with distinct sub-categories: 1) Pre-decentralization transportation and mobility, 2) Post-decentralization transportation and mobility, 3) Impact on quality of life, and 4) Recommendations. Participants’ recommendations for improving mobility conditions included the elimination of financial barriers associated with public transportation use and expanding access to transportation networks from the resource centers.
Introduction
Utah has witnessed a concerning rise in rates of homelessness since 2016 (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2021), which the State of Utah Annual Report on Homelessness attributes to the lack of available affordable housing, wage stagnation, limited employment options, and decreasing household incomes, all of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Department of Workforce Services, 2021). Homelessness is an enduring policy challenge with community-wide implications for how to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness (PEH), including the provision and maintenance of homeless shelters and services.
Decisions on where to site homeless shelters and resources face significant pressures from local interests, which has contributed to the historical and enduring concentration of homeless services in economically marginalized areas (Brinegar, 2003). Jocoy and Del Casino (2010) identify how “spatial mismatch” occurs when PEH are isolated from community services and economic centers and the negative influence of centralized models on mobility, travel behaviors, and needs of PEH. Centralized models isolate PEH from social and economic centers and affect their transportation demands and mobility patterns (Jocoy & Del Casino, 2010).
The decentralization of homeless services has been proposed to counteract the concentration of current services and the systematic spatial exclusion of PEH from economic and social opportunities (Brinegar, 2003). In 2016, Salt Lake County, Utah began the process of transitioning from a centralized homeless shelter located downtown, known as The Road Home’s Salt Lake Community Shelter a