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Board committee hears progress and concerns as city outlines plan to transition SIP hotel guests to permanent housing
Summary
City and public health officials told the Budget & Finance Committee the Shelter-in-Place (SIP) hotel program has housed thousands and reduced emergency care use, but officials warned demobilization will be slow and costly; advocates urged the city to keep and fill rooms while federal and state funding remains available.
San Francisco's Budget & Finance Committee held a prolonged hearing on Oct. 27, 2021, on the city's plan to transition people from federally funded shelter-in-place (SIP) hotels into permanent supportive housing. Chair Matt Haney opened the session by praising the program and saying it had "saved lives" during the pandemic.
Shereen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), told the committee the city opened 25 SIP hotels during the COVID-19 emergency and has served more than 3,700 guests. At peak capacity those hotels offered 2,228 rooms. As of October 2021, HSH reported 729 guests had been rehoused into permanent housing. McSpadden said the city has slowed demobilization to prioritize rehousing and to reduce the risk that people will return to unsheltered homelessness.
Naomi Schoenfeld, a UCSF medical anthropologist, summarized a rapid mixed-methods study of SIP hotels and said being placed in a SIP unit correlated with decreased emergency department use and increased outpatient engagement. Schoenfeld said qualitative interviews showed residents valued private bathrooms, stability for managing chronic conditions and medications, and that "being in the SIP offered him a chance to live, not just survive." She urged careful planning around exits to preserve health gains.
HSH and presenters told the committee they have extended the final demobilization date to September 2022 and estimate the extended timeline will add about $67 million in costs; FEMA reimbursement is expected to cover roughly $46 million, leaving an anticipated city share of about $21 million. HSH also said operating one SIP room costs about $7,000 per month while permanent supportive housing costs roughly $2,000 per month in operations and services.
Committee members pressed HSH on the pace of placements and on why many guests are moved from one SIP hotel to another rather than directly into permanent housing. HSH staff said the placement process is time-consuming, often requires multiple unit showings and documentation, and that pandemic-era office closures made verifying identification and records more difficult. HSH said it had adopted new documentation policies and partnerships (including with Social Security) to reduce those barriers and reported a recent uptick in placement pace.
Public commenters were nearly unanimous in urging the city to keep SIP hotels open and to fill vacant rooms while federal and state funds remain available. Dozens of callers'including nonprofit providers, outreach workers and residents'said SIP hotels improved health and safety, highlighted persistent racial disparities in homelessness, and characterized closing rooms while people remain unsheltered as a moral and public-health failure.
Chair Haney closed the public comment period and moved to continue the hearing to the call of the chair; the committee voted to continue. The committee did not adopt new policy during the hearing; HSH committed to returning with updates on housing placements and to continuing implementation of the demobilization plan.
