With no public notice, city homelessness officials have launched a new program that seeks out people on the streets who are ready for permanent homes, and it prioritizes units that have remained persistently vacant.
It’s the first time the city’s seven-year-old homelessness department has let people bypass a housing wait list, and the program streamlines other intermediate steps that might discourage people from seeking housing.
The new program, called Street to Home, comes at a critical moment. With more than 4,000 people living on city streets, officials face legal, economic, and political pressure from many sides to provide more housing, cleaner and safer sidewalks, and more services.
Just this week, a federal appeals court reinforced a ban on the city’s sidewalk camp “sweeps.” On the same day, Sup. Dean Preston introduced legislation demanding the city quickly fill 500 empty apartments set aside for the formerly homeless and reduce the vacancy rate to 5 percent.
It’s unclear how many of these units the new program will fill. It only launched last month and remains small, cautioned Homelessness and Supportive Housing Department executive director Shireen McSpadden, who acknowledged Streets to Homes at the city’s homelessness oversight commission Thursday morning.
The program was not part of McSpadden’s monthly report to the seven-member commission. But Commissioner Christin Evans asked about it, prompting McSpadden to say it began recently as a pilot but was ready for expansion. “We’re thrilled with the results,” said HSH deputy director Dee Rosado-Chan. It was the first public mention of the program, which was not listed on the department’s website as of this week.
The commission formed this year after voters, reacting to reports of mismanagement and lack of oversight from The Frisc and other outlets, approved it last November despite Mayor London Breed campaigning against it.
News to them
Commissioner Sharky Laguana told The Frisc that it was the first he had heard of the program. Evans said later she has heard it has brought 20 people off the streets so far. The Frisc reached out to several HSH representatives for more details about the program, but did not receive a response.
Evans called it a “terrific step” to help people who are wary of overnight shelters, often a stepping stone to permanent housing. “They’re going to a broader pool of people to identify if they can help them,” Evans told The Frisc. “It’s a population that’s staying outdoors [but] willing to accept housing.”
Jennifer Bolen, an aide to Sup. Preston, has had a short briefing on the program. She said it seems to “address our legislation pretty well, working hand in hand to lower the barrier” to housing.
According to Bolen, it’s for people who aren’t on the waiting list for housing and are willing to take what’s offered. “If you say you can move in tonight, some people would take that instead of getting on the waiting list.” (Those on the waiting list get a choice of three sites when their number is finally called.)
The candidates must have various documents the city typically requires during its housing process (also known as coordinated entry), but street outreach teams are helping with the paperwork, avoiding the need for office appointments and other tasks that can be a barrier for people with limited resources.
SF has 8,823 units of permanent supportive housing — which comes with extra services such as mental health treatment — and 840 of them are vacant, according to HSH data as of Sept. 7. While critics say the nearly 10 percent rate is unconscionable, McSpadden and other officials note that two-thirds of the empty units aren’t really available. They need maintenance, are waiting for someone to move in, or are on other kinds of hold.
(Preston’s announcement of his legislation Tuesday had a higher number of vacant units, 1,002, and an 11 percent vacancy rate. Preston aide Bolen said their figures include a category of housing that HSH excludes from its own count.)
‘Difficult to fill’
Two years ago, The Frisc reported that HSH was struggling with a vacancy rate that had ballooned to around 10 percent. HSH’s acting director blamed inefficient data systems, among other things. At the time HSH had a target of 3 percent vacancies but has since raised it to 7 percent.
The new program aims to move people into apartments that officials called “difficult to fill.” They might not have a kitchen or private bathroom, for example, like many older SROs in the Tenderloin and other neighborhoods. Many of these buildings also have unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
In addition to its supportive housing, SF has more than 3,000 beds across 46 temporary shelter sites, including overnight “congregate” sites. They are 90 percent occupied.
With more than 4,000 people sleeping on San Francisco’s streets, based on the most recent count, the shortage of beds and homes is at the heart of the legal fight over sidewalk sweeps. Federal judge Donna Ryu ruled in December that the city could not force “involuntary homeless” people to move unless shelter was immediately offered and available. The city appealed the ban, countering that people often refuse offers, which no longer makes them involuntarily homeless.
This week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals continued to enforce the sweep ban but also noted that both sides of the fight have agreed upon the definition of involuntary homelessness. Both plaintiffs and defendants found reasons to praise the ruling.
If you say, ‘You can move in tonight,’ some people would take that instead of getting on the waiting list.
jennifer bolen, aide to sup. dean preston
The city’s new five-year homelessness plan calls for a 50 percent reduction of people living on the street by 2028, with 4,500 people moving into some form of housing. HSH estimates it will require at least $600 million a year on top of the department’s current budget, which is $1.4 billion over the next two years.
But those goals will be elusive, if not impossible, if the city can’t stem a different tide. For every household — either a single person or family unit — that goes from homeless to housed in SF, four more fall into homelessness.
HSH deputy director Cynthia Nagendra told the oversight commission Thursday that more effort to prevent homelessness was crucial. Commissioners asked for more information, but with only three hours allotted for the meeting and time winding down, they agreed to save it for another day.