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Committee forwards retroactive $117.3M grant package for Tenderloin supportive housing after scrutiny of controls
Summary
The committee advanced a retroactive grant agreement and proposed amendment for Tenderloin Housing Clinic that would increase total funding to roughly $117.3 million for services at 16 SRO sites; BLA recommended a modest technical reduction and supervisors pressed the department on oversight, monitoring and steps to prevent future retroactive approvals.
The Budget and Finance Committee forwarded to the full Board a resolution to retroactively approve a grant agreement and related amendments between the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (DHSH) and Tenderloin Housing Clinic to provide permanent supportive housing and services at 16 single‑room‑occupancy (SRO) hotel sites. The department told the committee the original agreement (effective July 1, 2014–June 30, 2018) and a 2017 amendment had not previously been submitted to the Board due to administrative oversights; the proposed second amendment would extend the effective term through June 30, 2020 and increase the total grant amount to approximately $117.7 million. BLA recommended amending the proposed resolution to reduce the amount by $427,176 to $117,285,186 and approve the item as amended.
Gigi Whitley, deputy director for administration and finance at DHSH, described program goals: master leases and supportive services intended to stabilize formerly homeless adults, provide case management and referrals to health and employment services, and support a "moving on" initiative to help some residents transition to independent subsidized housing. Whitley said the department has implemented new staff, checklists and internal controls intended to prevent future retroactive approvals and is working with the city attorney and controller to improve processes.
Supervisors asked detailed questions about the average duration of stay (Emily Cohen, mayoral homelessness advisor, estimated roughly 10 years with about 12% annual turnover and 2% negative exits), audit capacity and how the city will monitor provider performance and tenant satisfaction. DHSH said it conducts annual programmatic monitoring and will build additional performance measures to align with budgeting and procurements; the controller said automation in the finance system is limited and recommended people‑and‑process improvements.
After discussion, the chair moved to accept the BLA’s recommended amendments and forward the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation. The matter will return to the Board for final action; the committee asked DHSH to provide additional monitoring and public accountability details as follow‑up.
