Supervisor Fielder urges rescind or reform of 90-day family shelter policy, announces resolution

Supervisor Fielder introduced a resolution on March 11 asking the mayor and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to rescind or substantially reform a reinstated 90-day shelter length-of-stay policy for families.

Fielder said the policy has produced "confusion and fear," including instances in which shelter providers threatened to call San Francisco police to remove families who were awaiting scheduled housing referrals. He said HSH overturned one removal decision and granted 30-day extensions to the families involved, but that the extensions merely "bring us back to square one in April." Fielder called the policy "ineffective" and "callous" and said implementation problems include families not being informed they can request extensions, excessive provider discretion regarding what constitutes "positive progress," and insufficient notification of grievance rights.

Fielder said he has sent an extensive memo to the mayor's policy chief and HSH outlining implementation issues and requested that the administration work with the Board of Supervisors and community stakeholders to replace the policy with measures that increase shelter and housing options and avoid putting children at risk of returning to the streets.

He identified Supervisors Chen, Melgar and Walton as early cosponsors of his resolution. The resolution was introduced during new business; no formal vote on the resolution was recorded in the meeting transcript.