The utah youth experiencing homelessness early diversion initiative (yehdi) program diverts homeless youth and young adults from justice system involvement into community-based programs. - the utah…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services awarded the Utah Department of Health and Human Services $650,000 on September 30, 2026, to implement the Youth Experiencing Homelessness Early Diversion Initiative (YEHDI), a project grant (CFDA 93.532) designed to divert homeless youth and young adults from justice system involvement into community-based programs.

The program will provide evidence-based interventions to youth and young adults ages 15 to 22 in Salt Lake County experiencing or at imminent risk of homelessness, preventing arrest and booking by directing individuals into community-based resources addressing mental illness or co-occurring disorders. An Early Diversion Coalition will develop and implement cross-system strategies to facilitate diversion. Direct services include case management, outreach, crisis assessment and intervention, brief interventions, and individual therapy. Referral pathways will connect participants to assertive community treatment, medication management, integrated mental health and co-occurring disorder treatment, peer recovery support services, psychiatric rehabilitation, supported employment services, and assistance with activities of daily living. The program intends to serve 175 individuals per year, reaching 875 total over the five-year period of performance. Performance will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the period of performance extending from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2031. The CMHS Projects of Regional and National Significance program supports prevention, treatment, and recovery through knowledge development, training and technical assistance, capacity response, and systems change initiatives.

The utah youth experiencing homelessness early diversion initiative (yehdi) program diverts homeless youth and young adults from justice system involvement into community-based programs. - the utah department of health and human services, office of substance use and mental health (sumh) proposes to implement the youth experiencing homelessness early diversion initiative (yehdi). This program will provide evidence-based interventions to divert salt lake county (slco) youth and young adults experiencing, or at imminent risk of, homelessness away from the juvenile or criminal justice system prior to arrest or booking and into community-based resources that will address their mental illness or CO-occurring disorders. The project directors will establish and lead an early diversion coalition to develop, strengthen, and implement cross-system strategies to divert individuals from arrest and booking into community-based services. Services provided will include: case management, outreach to individuals at risk for criminal or juvenile justice involvement, crisis assessment and intervention, brief interventions to facilitate care, and individual therapy. Referral to long-term services will include: assertive community treatment, medication management access, integrated mental health and CO-occurring disorder treatment, peer recovery support services, psychiatric rehabilitation, supported employment services, assistance with activities of daily living. The geographic area to be served will be slco (POP 1,240,937); youth and young adults (POP 148,052). The program intends to serve 175/year, 875 total served over five years. The population served will be ages 15 to 22 in slco who meet program criteria. Statewide referrals to juvenile court occur at a rate of 3.28 youth per 100 youths, yet in slco that increases to 29.5 youth per 100 youths. Data submitted to sumh demonstrates that of clients served in the public mental health system in slco, 55% ages 14 to 17, 41% ages 18-21, and 43% ages 21-25 experience serious emotional disturbance or serious mental illness. Slco data also shows that for the 3,440 youth and young adults ages 15 to 22 who received mental health or CO-occurring disorder services, 36% were homeless, in jail, participating in drug court, or were referred from justice services. Young people experiencing homelessness have higher rates of mental illness and substance use, and higher rates of involvement in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Goals and objectives: goal 1: improve access to behavioral health services for 875 youth and young adults (175/year), who are screened and meet criteria for the yehdi program. Objectives: goals accomplished through (a) building a sustainable coalition of service providers across behavioral health, justice, housing, and employment. (b) referring youth and young adults to long-term services in the community based on their behavioral health needs (c) follow-up with youth and young adults at 30, 60, and 90 days after referral to long-term services to assess improvement in access to care. Goal 2: facilitate behavioral health training to staff members in at least 125 (25/year) community-based or stakeholder organizations annually, with trainings focused on diversion, youth experiencing homelessness, identifying mental illness and CO-occurring substance use disorders, mental health and well-being, suicide prevention, and crisis response. Objectives: goals accomplished through (a) quarterly education webinars (b) quarterly coalition meetings (c) monthly resource newsletter (d) targeted webinar training to specific groups and organizations identified in coalition meetings (e) collected attendance data for each training. Goal 3: increase the number of youth and young adults experiencing homelessness who are diverted from juvenile and criminal justice systems. Objectives: goal accomplished through (a) follow-up survey at 30, 60, 90 days after referral to long-term services (self-report) (b) homeless management information system reports to measure engagement in homeless service systems (c) increased referrals from crisis systems to diversion and long-term services.