Also handled in record time: 340 unemployment claims and 107 requests for help finding jobs.
It's a trickle compared with the torrent of government aid flowing to evacuees in Texas, Georgia and other Southern states. But even here, the Hurricane Katrina relief effort is taxing social programs already stretched thin by years of recession and federal cuts.
The total cost of relocating, educating and medicating evacuees is unknown and continues to mount as some look to settle here permanently. Utah is hoping to be reimbursed 100 percent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
But that could be rosy thinking. On Wednesday, FEMA spokeswoman Cory LaBianca said, "There are still a lot of questions about what will be covered and what won't."
FEMA has agreed to reimburse all costs accrued as part of the shelter operation at Camp Williams. In addition, the agency will foot the bill for up to 12 months of rent assistance for those evacuees who choose to stay in Utah.
That's good news for housing authorities who weathered criticism for giving New Orleans residents preference over Utahns on section 8 rent voucher waiting lists.
But Human Services officials are still waiting for word on reimbursement for substance abuse and mental health counseling that they expect to continue providing evacuees. The health department has been given no assurance that medical bills will be paid. Public schools absorbing displaced students might be on their own.
The Department of Workforce Services is in less of a bind. Many of the evacuees were already drawing on transferrable unemployment and welfare before they came to Utah. The cost of providing a month of food stamps for the 402 evacuees who qualify is only $47,000, compared with the $10 million awarded monthly to 140,000 Utahns.
The governor's office has asked all state departments to tally the number of hours that employees devoted to the relief effort. But Richard Ellis, the governor's budget adviser said, "We're probably a couple months away from knowing whether we build that [cost] into our [2006-07] budget."
Utah charities, which have helped evacuees, are being asked to do more. At least three Gulf Coast charities with now-demolished facilities - Catholic Community Services, Volunteers of America and the Odyssey House - have asked their Utah partners to consider adopting some of their clients.
The Odyssey House of Utah was asked to take in six substance abusers being treated by its partner in Louisiana. But Salt Lake County Division of Substance Abuse Director Patrick Fleming says he can't afford to expand the Odyssey House's contract without bumping Utahns off a two-month waiting list for inpatient services.
If FEMA money comes through, that could change, said Fleming. "Those evacuees moving here and becoming residents of Salt Lake County, we'll take care of them. But shipping people here from other programs is a whole other question."
