Wayne Niederhauser, Utah’s state homeless coordinator, presented a new public dashboard developed under a 2025 statutory requirement (citing the provision in the meeting as 35A‑16‑208). The dashboard uses data from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and visualizes inflow, outflow, shelter capacity, and other system performance measures.

Niederhauser gave committee members a brief navigation tutorial and emphasized that the dashboard tracks cases that are entered into HMIS only. He described the concept of “functional zero” — when exits from homelessness exceed entries — and noted a number of U.S. jurisdictions have targeted specific subpopulations (for example veterans) to reach localized functional zero levels because those populations often have richer, dedicated funding sources.

Niederhauser cited calendar‑year figures indicating roughly 10,000 people experienced homelessness for the first time in Utah last year and said the dashboard shows an inflow of about 15,500 people and an outflow of about 9,783 during the same measurement period. He and committee members discussed the fact that shelter beds added for winter response were full and that the state will likely need additional shelter capacity; Niederhauser said an additional 1,200–1,300 beds would be an estimate to help meet demand. He also gave an operational estimate that basic operations for a new campus could cost on the order of $35 million, with a more transformative facility approaching $53 million, and noted that much of the temporary winter funding is one‑time money that will end.

Committee members asked which dashboard indicators are most useful to track progress. Niederhauser pointed to bed availability, first‑time homelessness and system exit metrics (days in shelter, successful exits to permanent housing) as the core performance measures. He said data show many “choke points” in the system: inflow drivers such as reentry from incarceration, aging out of foster care, mental‑health and substance‑use issues, and housing cost pressures. Niederhauser said housing costs in states like California and New York correlate with higher homelessness rates and that Utah’s homelessness rate remains below the highest‑cost states but requires active intervention.

Ending: The dashboard is published online at the Utah Homelessness Data Dashboards site, includes tutorials and explanatory notes, and Niederhauser asked legislators and staff to use the tool for policy and budget planning as the office considers shelter expansion and operational funding needs.