San Francisco supervisors probe 10-year plan on chronic homelessness as counts remain stubbornly high

Supervisor Mark Farrell convened a Budget & Finance Committee hearing on the city—s 10-year plan to abolish chronic homelessness, which is scheduled to sunset in June. The committee heard detailed presentations from Bevan Dufty (Mayor—s Office of HOPE), Trent Rohrer (Human Services Agency), Applied Survey Research and Barbara Garcia (Department of Public Health), followed by public-comment testimony from providers and advocates.

Dufty, who helped implement the plan a decade earlier, said the central goal—to create 3,000 permanent supportive housing units—was largely achieved: the city has developed roughly 2,800 of those units with only about 200 remaining in the pipeline. Dufty credited coordinated assessment, outreach and eviction-notification proposals for helping preserve housing placements while urging improvements to an apparent ‘‘housing ladder’’ so formerly homeless tenants can move into other affordable options and free supportive units for others.

Trent Rohrer of the Human Services Agency described the plan—framed around client engagement, supportive housing and prevention—and told supervisors the city has housed thousands of people since the plan began. Rohrer cited performance numbers: roughly 2,655 permanent supportive housing units created under the plan for single adults, seniors and families and additional units in the pipeline. He said HSA—s monthly reports show strong retention: supportive housing portfolios report about a 90% or higher retention rate after one year. Rohrer also flagged that federal program rules (McKinney/HUD funding streams, Shelter Plus Care, VASH vouchers) shape which populations can be targeted for some subsidies.

Applied Survey Research, the consultant that supported the 2013 point-in-time count, described methodology changes that affect trend interpretation and highlighted several findings: San Francisco—s 2013 PIT count was roughly flat from 2011 at about 6,400 people, of whom about 3,400 were unsheltered; 1,977 met HUD—s chronic definition in 2013 compared to more than 4,000 in 2009 (a decline Rohrer said was partly due to program success and partly due to definitional shifts). The consultant said roughly 13% of counted people reported living in vehicles and that 39% of respondents self-reported they were homeless before they came to San Francisco.

Barbara Garcia of DPH urged stronger behavioral-health integration in outreach teams, noted pilots for SSI presumptive disability for people with schizophrenia, and described expansions in the HOT outreach team and medical-respite bed capacity. Garcia said DPH has increased mental-health resources through the Mental Health Services Act and is aiming to ensure every homeless person has a primary-care home under the Affordable Care Act.

Across question-and-answer exchanges supervisors pressed departments on shelter capacity (shelter beds were reported near 94% full on one recent night), clinical staffing of outreach teams, the interplay of federal funding incentives and local priorities, and whether more services create a magnet effect. Rohrer and Applied Survey Research said the evidence does not support a simple "magnet" conclusion; a substantial share of people counted reported prior homelessness elsewhere.

Advocates from the Coalition on Homelessness and Community Housing Partnership praised progress but urged further prevention, deeper shallow subsidies to keep low-income households in rent-controlled units, and protections against eviction for people placed from supportive housing.

The committee took the item as a hearing for policy consideration; no policy vote was required at this session. Next steps discussed included follow-up hearings focusing on veterans and data requests to the controller for a deeper analysis of housing exits and length-of-stay in supportive housing.

Sources: Testimony at the Feb. 5 Committee hearing from Bevan Dufty (HOPE), Trent Rohrer (HSA), Barbara Garcia (DPH), Applied Survey Research, Jennifer Friedenbach (Coalition on Homelessness); public remarks by nonprofit leaders and service providers.