Steph and Ken Curtis’ son Brandon died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk in front of Rose Park Elementary School on a mid-August night last year.
On Tuesday, the parents testified before the Utah House Health and Human Services Committee in support of a bill they hope will close gaps in the state’s homeless services system and better help those struggling with drug abuse to get to the next steps in their recoveries.
“Once they’re clean, what do they do? Where do they go? How do we get them that hope for a future that’s not laying dead on a sidewalk in front of Rose Park Elementary School?” Steph Curtis said during her testimony. “There has to be a better way and there has to be follow-through.”
Brandon Curtis spent much of his life in and out of drug and mental health treatment facilities in the Beehive State. After a six-month stretch of detox and sobriety in Colorado, he returned to Utah despite his parents’ pleas.
Just two months later, he was dead.
His parents pleaded with lawmakers to support Provo Republican Rep. Tyler Clancy’s HB329, pointing out its provisions that look to better connect homeless Utahns with the services they need, facilitate family reunification and aim to create drug-free shelters.
“House Bill 329 is just another puzzle piece in our continued efforts towards a human-first approach to homeless services,” said Clancy. “... This creates drug-free homeless services.”
The multifaceted bill proposes a variety of changes to the state’s homeless services system, including:
• Requiring bag checks and a zero-tolerance drug use policies at shelters.
• Imposing punishment, including fines, on service providers that don’t implement those rules.
• Instituting enhanced penalties for those caught dealing drugs in and around shelters.
• Creating a data-sharing pilot program, called the Know-by-Name system, that aims to better connect homeless Utahns with necessary services across providers.
• Opening up funding to send people experiencing homelessness to their families or support networks out of state.
• Encouraging service providers to help homeless Utahns work toward stability in all facets of life.
• Eliminating some funding application requirements for residential and vocational programs, like The Other Side Academy.
Clancy’s bill advanced out of the committee with a 12-0 vote after business groups, government officials and service providers gave largely positive feedback. Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Bridger Bolinder, R-Grantsville, were absent.
“The Road Home is committed to safety, being a good neighbor and engaged partner,” said Michelle Flynn, executive director of the nonprofit service provider. “We’re actually already in alignment with the sponsor and in compliance with the safety and shelters component of this bill.”
Flynn said she supported the bill broadly but used some of her time to ask lawmakers to focus on preventing homelessness in the first place, too.
Shawn McMillan, executive director of behavioral health nonprofit First Step House, also shared some support for the legislation but warned against duplicating efforts in creating the Know-by-Name pilot.
“There are already in existence, in Salt Lake County in particular, numerous versions of high-utilizer lists, folks who already have dedicated case managers,” said McMillan. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done there still before we turn that into policy and add another layer of bureaucracy to our already overly burdened service provider system.”
Clancy, the sponsor, told the committee that he would continue working on the bill even as it advanced to the House floor.
