More than 420 people have been arrested in the “Operation Rio Grande” lawlessness/homeless crack down, but now starts the critical “Phase Two,” where qualifying offenders and homeless folks are diverted into aggressive mental health and substance addiction programs.
Meeting in the Odyssey House headquarters on 100 South, leaders of the state, county and city operation said Tuesday that they have arranged for extended treatment programs.
Operation Rio Grande “is changing lives,” said Pamela Atkinson, a community activist for 20 years and advisor to several Utah governors.
“It has started with love and compassion” for “our homeless friends,” she said.
And Phase Two – Phase One being dealing with lawlessness and arrests of those preying on the homeless – is now underway, with expanded treatment beds and a new, special drug court/diversion program.
No longer, said Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, will drug pushers and other violators abusing the homeless be arrested one day and out the next because there weren’t enough jail beds to handle them.
With former county jail occupants being sent back to the state prison or to open jail beds in other counties, most, if not all, of the 420 arrested since a week ago Monday – the official start of “Operation Rio Grande” – are still locked up.
The Rio Grande area – 200 South and Rio Grande Street – has become calm, said Atkinson, who visits the area often.
Many of the homeless still in the area have personally thanked her, she said. “But it is all because of these folks standing behind me,” including McAdams, state and city cop bosses, House Speaker Greg Hughes, City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, and drug treatment leaders.
Before the operation, said Atkinson, she saw homeless folks “who were so sick, some were dying. Now they are getting help,” she added.
“There was hopelessness in the eyes” of the homeless. “Now they have hope. The difference” in the Rio Grande area is dramatic.
The county is directly in charge of mental and drug treatment, often using state and federal pass-through funds.
Critical to these programs – as reported previously by UtahPolicy.com – is the state getting Medicaid expansion waivers.
The state hopes $100 million — $30 million from the state (already put aside) and $70 million in Obamacare Medicaid expansion monies.
Hughes, McAdams, and Atkinson, all said they have had conversations with federal officials and hope those waivers will be coming soon, before the end of the year.
If it doesn’t come, then ORG is $75 million short in treatment program monies – and how that would be made up is unclear.
The new drug court program was approved last week by the Judicial Council.
And by early September, a person picked up from the streets for drug addiction or associated problems, from petty crimes to minor drug sales or possession, can be diverted from jail, by a judge and prosecutors, into treatment programs – if they are not a threat to the general public.
The most successful criminal/inmate/treatment programs start almost from arrest, and little time is “wasted” by the person sitting in jail for days or weeks at a time – but can be moved quickly into treatment.
That is hopefully what will happen to many of the folks associated with homelessness in Salt Lake City and County officials said Tuesday afternoon.
“They will be screened in jail, and within the next two weeks will be put into an aggressive treatment program,” said McAdams.
“Hardened criminals are sitting in jail today,” said Hughes, the driving force behind the state’s involvement in the homeless issue – called a crisis when several weeks ago two people were murdered in the homeless area within 18 hours.
And there they will stay until going to trial and sent to prison for their crimes, law enforcement officials said.
