Board committee hears progress, gaps in housing and services for veterans and older homeless residents
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Summary
Supervisors heard agencies and partners describe expanded veteran housing, a coordinated assessment pilot and senior set‑aside beds, while advocates and former homeless residents urged longer transitional stays and better eviction prevention. The committee filed the item without vote on further action.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee on May 21 heard agency and community testimony about services for homeless veterans and seniors, including new project‑based housing and a coordinated assessment pilot aimed at prioritizing the most vulnerable veterans.
Chair Supervisor Mark Farrell opened the hearing and said seniors are a growing share of the homeless population, noting "the life expectancy for a person without permanent housing is between 42 and 52." He asked agencies to ensure eligible seniors are enrolled in benefits and to strengthen outreach to older adults.
Human Services Agency representative Joyce Crum outlined senior and veteran units in the HSA portfolio and said Veterans Commons includes about 73 units while Mary Helen Rogers includes 100 units with roughly 20 set aside for homeless seniors. Megan Owens, staff coordinator for the local homeless coordinating board, described a coordinated assessment pilot and a veteran‑focused “registry week” to score and rank veterans on the VI‑SPDAT vulnerability tool; the veterans registry effort was scheduled to start in late July or early August 2014.
Bobby Rosenthal, the Department of Veterans Affairs regional homeless coordinator, described VA services at Third & Harrison, temporary assessment and stabilization beds and permanent HUD‑VASH vouchers. Rosenthal said, "It should be 0," when asked about the goal of ending veteran homelessness, and reported San Francisco currently had about 570 VASH vouchers available locally.
Speakers from nonprofits and veteran service organizations urged more permanent supportive housing and longer transitional stays for elderly veterans. Swords to Plowshares and Episcopal Community Services highlighted rapid rehousing successes but emphasized income and benefits assistance as crucial. Public commenters described personal experiences of near‑loss of housing while awaiting retroactive VA benefits and urged creation of safety‑net policies to keep veterans housed.
After public comment the committee accepted a motion to file Item 1; no further committee directives or budget actions were recorded at the hearing.
The committee did not adopt new policy or funding changes during this session. Staff and advocates said the next steps are pilot implementation (coordinated assessment and registry week) and continued interagency work to deploy vouchers, streamline inspections and expand supportive services.
