Supervisor Fielder calls for rescinding or reforming 90-day family shelter policy, cites evictions and confusion

Supervisor Fielder told the Board on March 11 that the city's reinstated 90-day shelter length-of-stay policy is harming families and increasing the risk that children will be returned to the streets.

Fielder said shelter providers have at times threatened to call San Francisco police to remove families facing eviction for not meeting what providers interpreted as "positive progress" on family success plans. He described two families who faced 5 p.m. evictions before the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) intervened and granted 30-day extensions because the families were awaiting scheduled housing referrals.

"The policy has escalated to the point that just yesterday, 2 families were facing 5PM evictions with the threat of the shelter provider calling SFPD to remove them," Supervisor Fielder said. "It turns out that the families were waiting for scheduled appointments for housing referrals, something that should have been considered positive progress."

Fielder said his office circulated an extensive memo documenting implementation problems, including that families are not always informed of their right to request extensions or file grievances, that providers have broad discretion to define "positive progress," and that systemic barriers to housing remain unaddressed. He said HSH and the mayor's policy chief have been open to working on solutions.

He asked the mayor and HSH to rescind or substantially reform the policy and to work with the Board and stakeholders to develop alternatives that avoid placing undue…