Jenny Wilson

For Salt Lake County Mayor

Delivering real results for Salt Lake County

Leading a multi-pronged response to our mental health, homelessness and criminal justice crisis

The centerpiece of Mayor Wilson’s work moving forward is the Human Services, Homeless, and Criminal Justice Reform Action Plan — an unprecedented and comprehensive strategy designed to address the challenge holistically and at its roots, breaking an expensive, inefficient, and ineffective cycle. The plan was created with input from and has been endorsed by Republican and Democratic elected officials, as well as independent, nonpartisan experts in the field. The plan approaches five complex systems interconnectedly:

  • Criminal justice;
  • Housing and shelter;
  • Behavioral health treatment; and
  • Workforce needs.

Mayor Wilson and the county team worked with independent experts on the ground to map the gaps in the system, identify barriers, analyze costs, and chart the course forward. Mayor Wilson has aggressively and proactively worked to address homelessness in other ways:

Improving the region’s winter response

Mayor Wilson has coordinated an unprecedented partnership between stakeholders and city leaders to mobilize hundreds of additional shelter beds for those in need during the brutal winter months. Because of Mayor Wilson’s leadership, the countywide winter overflow plan has been developed earlier and earlier, ensuring fewer and fewer individuals would be left in the cold.

Supporting permanent supportive housing projects

  • Salt Lake County invested $2 million in the Other Side Village to help build a tiny home community that will house more than 600 individuals when fully built-out.
  • Mayor Wilson invested $6 million in a partnership with Salt Lake City and the state government to fund supportive housing for homeless individuals aged 62 and older with significant health conditions. The facility opened in January.

Expanding access to urgent mental health care

  • Salt Lake County donated the land and $5 million for the construction of the Kem and Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center in South Salt Lake (seen below) — a 30-bed receiving center and 24-bed acute care unit to help Salt Lake County residents experiencing urgent mental health crises. This facility will allow law enforcement and first responders to bring qualifying individuals directly to mental health and detox services rather than jails or hospitals — helping break a futile and dangerous cycle.
  • To help before the Crisis Care Center is ready, Salt Lake County opened a temporary receiving center and doubled the intake capacity for people in psychiatric or substance use-related crises.
  • The Wilson Administration worked with community partners to increase the number of beds in mental health residential programs.  
  • Salt Lake County supported Volunteers of America’s Theodora housing project, Odyssey House’s Sunstone and Jasper boarding homes, and Valley Behavioral Health’s Valley Steps program, providing housing for seriously mentally ill individuals.

Investing in affordable housing

  • Salt Lake County invested $25 million in 17 affordable housing projects around Salt Lake County, funding the creation or preservation of more than 1,500 affordable units.
  • The Wilson Administration’s Action Plan for Human Services, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice Reform calls for adding 1,000 new units of housing — including group homes and supportive housing for those with mental illness and experiencing homelessness before the end of the decade.

Helping county residents stay in their homes

  • The Wilson Administration helped hundreds of Salt Lake County residents maintain housing through the county’s Emergency Housing Voucher Program.
  • Salt Lake County’s Emergency Rental Assistance invested $88 million to support families who needed rent or utility assistance to stay in their homes during the COVID pandemic. The program kept thousands of families from being evicted.

Ensuring the homelessness resource centers opened on schedule

The Wilson Administration provided a bridge loan to Shelter the Homeless — one of the region’s biggest and most important service providers — covering the shortfall when the Homelessness Resource Centers were built in 2019. It allowed the centers to open and the community to be served. The loan was paid back ahead of schedule with Salt Lake County covering $5 million of the debt.