Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Budget hearing spotlights new navigation centers and temporary shelter expansions as homelessness priorities
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee reviewed Mayor and HSH proposals to expand navigation centers, temporary shelter capacity and rapid rehousing. Officials warned that many planned investments depend on Measure D or one‑time state funds and that the department must rebalance if those dollars do not materialize.
The Budget and Finance Committee heard detailed plans Friday for a package of new homelessness responses that city officials say aim to reduce unsheltered encampments and move vulnerable people into housing.
Jeff Kositsky, director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, told the panel the department is proposing four new temporary shelter sites, three navigation centers and a transitional shelter for pregnant women as part of a 2018–20 budget package. The investments also include a roughly $1 million increase in warm‑hand‑off rapid rehousing for transition‑age youth and expanded access points where people can be assessed once and linked quickly into services.
Kositsky said the department’s strategy pairs short‑term problem solving with long‑term housing, including 197 new units of permanent housing already in the pipeline. “Our priority is to end unsheltered family homelessness and close large, long‑term encampments,” he said.
HSH emphasized that many planned expansions were contingent on Measure D, a November ballot proposal. Without Measure D funding, the department said it would need to rebalance programs in FY 2019–20 and seek other one‑time sources — including recent state budget allocations — to maintain new services. Deputy director Gigi Whitley added that the department is working with philanthropic partners and the mayor’s office to prioritize allocations during any rebalancing.
The committee asked for data on program outcomes — for example, Homeward Bound’s placement and return rates — and Kositsky said the city has placed hundreds of people through the program and is seeing a return rate under about 5 percent. He also noted tradeoffs: while Homeward Bound can reunify people with family supports quickly, the program requires careful screening and follow‑up to avoid repeat homelessness.
Next steps: the committee will consider the mayor’s proposed rebalancing next week and asked HSH to prioritize new navigation services for transition‑age youth and rapid rehousing expansions when one‑time state or philanthropic funds are available.
