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Supervisor Fielder calls for rescinding or reforming 90-day shelter policy amid family homelessness concerns
Summary
Supervisor Myrna Melgar Fielder asked the mayor and HSH on March 11 to rescind or substantially reform the city's reinstated 90-day shelter length-of-stay policy for families, citing implementation failures that have placed families at risk.
Supervisor Myrna Melgar Fielder introduced a resolution on March 11 criticizing the city's reinstated 90-day shelter length-of-stay policy for families and urging the mayor and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to rescind or reform it.
Fielder said she has received multiple reports from families and service providers describing confusion, fear and harmful implementation practices, including a shelter provider who threatened to call the San Francisco Police Department to remove two families who were awaiting scheduled housing referrals. HSH intervened in that case and granted 30‑day extensions, Fielder said, but she argued the pattern would recur when extensions lapse.
In an extensive memo she circulated to the mayor's policy chief and HSH, Fielder detailed implementation issues she said include: families not being informed of their ability to request extensions; inconsistent discretion by providers and case managers about what constitutes "positive progress" on family success plans; and inadequate notice about grievance rights when extensions are denied. She said these practices can place children and families at risk and that there is no readily available data showing families are repeatedly refusing to leave shelters.
Fielder asked the mayor and HSH to "rescind or drastically reform" the policy and to work with the board and stakeholders to develop an approach that avoids placing undue stress on families. She secured early cosponsorship from Supervisors Chen, Melgar and Walton (as recorded in the transcript) and asked colleagues to support reforms that increase shelter and housing options and correct implementation flaws.
The transcript records the introduction of the resolution and the sponsor's request for executive action; there is no recorded final vote in the March 11 proceedings. Fielder said HSH and the mayor's policy office had been receptive to working on solutions, and she urged collaborative development of a replacement policy that emphasizes family stability and clear procedural protections.
