Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order on Sept. 21 creating the Recovery Utah Initiative, a statewide effort addressing addiction, homelessness and serious mental illness. The governor’s office says the initiative will implement the order and track progress toward related Built Here goals.
What the order sets in motion
The order creates a council that will include Utahns with lived experience of homelessness, along with representatives of state agencies, faith-based organizations and the private sector. The council is intended to improve coordination across public health, public safety, education and economic opportunity. The order also establishes a Recovery-Ready Community designation for cities and counties that demonstrate a commitment to recovery and long-term stability, according to the governor’s office and ABC4.
The initiative is linked to Built Here goals that include adding 150,000 housing units by 2029, increasing inpatient mental-health beds by 10%, reducing drug-related deaths by 25% and reducing by 25% the number of people leaving custody who enter homelessness. The governor’s office and ABC4 describe that final benchmark as covering people leaving state custody, while Deseret News describes it as people exiting police custody. The figures and differing descriptions appear in reporting by the governor’s office, ABC4 and Deseret News.
Utah overdose deaths remain high
Utah had 606 drug overdose deaths in 2023, 14.3% more than the year before, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. The department said the state’s overdose death rate had stayed close to peak levels since 2015.
Plumb questions what will change
State Sen. Jennifer Plumb, a physician and co-founder of Utah Naloxone, supports recovery efforts but has questioned whether the initiative will bring new investment or produce concrete changes beyond organizing existing work under a new structure. She has called for people with lived experience and organizations already working in addiction recovery, homelessness and serious mental illness to have a meaningful role in shaping it, KJZZ reported.
Plumb has also warned against making support conditional on compliance or turning coordination into a punitive approach. She has called for evidence-based measures of progress and more resources for treatment and long-term recovery support, KJZZ reported. The KJZZ report said the governor’s office did not respond to its request for comment on her specific concerns.
Implementation details remain open
The governor’s office describes the initiative as a way to help Utahns access treatment, recovery support and long-term stability. As the council is assembled, its membership, how progress will be measured and how cities and counties can qualify for the Recovery-Ready designation remain to be determined.
