A few years ago, Utah got national accolades for practically wiping out chronic homelessness, the crowning success of a noble decade-long crusade.
The stories and, more specifically, the data that they were based on were complete garbage, as any reasonable person strolling downtown Salt Lake City, stepping over used needles or getting hit up for change could tell you.
Sure, over the decade, some people found homes; others ended up on the street. But because the definition of homeless changed over that time, on paper it looked like there was tremendous progress when the reality was that there was a homeless crisis building.